Channelbeta - Projects - Midgal Arquitectos - Bristol Myers Squibb Corporate

The Bristol-Myers Squibb headquarters building is located in the southern part of Mexico City, with easy access to such important arteries as Revolución Avenue and the Periferico loop. The building is to house the general offices of the corporation's Mexican division.

Location

The building sits on a parcel of 30,000 m² which is currently home to one of the company's production plants as well as an office building which, having been constructed in the 1950s, is no longer viable for the Company, especially since the need for space and installations is greater than the building can support.

Description of the Project

The project took its shape from the volumes existing on the site, the office building, the new production building and the limitations set by the existing, intersecting streets (Antonio Caso and Revolución). Based on the above, a pattern of blocks with diverse functions was designed.

The headquarters building is comprised of four levels; each subdivided according to its functions. Included are a subterranean services level which houses a number of machine rooms and a parking area, and a public ground floor which features an entrance atrium, a cafeteria and an auditorium, all connected by an open collonade. The upper two floors are given over to offices, each floor divided into two sections which function as nodes, united by means of a connecting element which traverses the full-height entrance atrium, interior pedestrian bridges that, apart from uniting the two sections, emphasise the public character of the lobby.

The building appears as two inclined prisms whose volumes have seen intervention through the removal and addition of volumes and elements. In the areas exposed to direct sunlight, louvers were added to the windows. The volumes to which the glass panels have been applied are massive and create a contrast on the exterior façades: the massiveness of the wall against the transparency of the areas of glass, the orange tones of the prefabricated elements against the green of the glass, the textures of the walls against the smoothness of glass. The entire building is modular, the specifications for the plans and elevations in feet, which facilitated its construction.

The stairways are elements, which form part of the designs of both the façades and the interiors. On the outside, the emergency stairs are elements that present two opposing flights and are attached to the side of the building. Inside, the cantilevered stairway within the space enclosed by the atrium, together with the pedestrian bridges, form part of the interior decoration.

On the upper floors, the 9 x 9-m areas between columns provide great flexibility in arranging the office spaces in that they can be open plan or walled in. The distribution of space results in living organisms whose arrangement the client may continually change, according to his needs, granting the building a longer useful life.

With regard to the constructive process, the headquarters is a modular building, facilitating a rapid execution. The columns and beams are prefabricated concrete elements and were assembled on site, as were the Spancrete slabs, the prefabricated walls of coloured concrete and the glass panels. In other words, as the "assembly" of the building was taking place, the personnel within the office building could continue in their labor without having to be moved. The infrastructure of installations is fully capable of automating and controlling the diverse activities within the structure, resulting in a modern headquarters for Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Midgal Arquitectos

Migdal Arquitectos, is a company of young architects based in Mexico City. It was found in 1989 by Jaime Varon [1965] and Abraham Metta [1966] architects whose average age is 35 years old as well as the most part of the office members. In 1995 Alex Metta [1973] became a partner of the firm.

Since that time the Company was growing and had been involved in the development of diverse architectural projects such as residential architecture, office buildings, ground transportation services, housing complexes, industrial parks and interior design, among others, having developed, to date more than 100 projects.

About a 60% of the total projects we realize are constructed by ourselves. That is possible because we have a design department and a construction department.

We have a group of external consultants specialized on different disciplines such as structures, mechanical equipment, landscape architecture and urbanism. These consultants participate all the way in the design process of each project.