Tlaxcala, an apartment built in the 1940s in Mexico City’s La Condesa neighborhood, was cluttered with modifications and renovations made over the past decades. For the nearly 400-square-foot (37-square-meter) unit, the clients brought in local architects, Sebastián Mancera + Taller 3000, to peel away the layers of renovations and fixes and create more light throughout the home. The studio, founded in 2021, transformed the residence into a coherent palette of natural materials.
A blue door inset in wood paneling to create shoe and coat storage begins the entry to the updated apartment. On one side, red velvet curtains partition and frame the living room, where cherry paneling continues. It creates a warm backdrop for red accents and wood-framed furniture. A sofa set atop a wood base with a built-in side table sits in front of a wooden coffee table, softened with rotund legs, and a pair of Luna Lounge chairs by Odd Knutsen. A ruffled glass pendant hangs down over the scene, a light-hearted illumination in front of the window framed in glass block.
On the other side of the entry, a dining room is brightened by a new wall of mirrors. It reflects the tree canopies further into the space from the nearby window. Set within more wood frames, the mirrors balance the warm tones of the living room. A dining table with mosaic-clad legs and a cylindrical pendant was designed by the studio in collaboration with seb3000 and Plácido Ándruz.
The natural material palette continues into the kitchen, where wooden cabinetry, stainless steel countertops, gray tiles, and terra-cotta-colored flooring make for a warm yet functional space. More light is brought in from the aperture looking into the courtyard.
The designers turned the former laundry room just off the kitchen into a breakfast nook. A new glass block window was inserted into a light shaft painted egg yellow. Tiles, millwork, and custom blocky stools transform the overlooked room into an intimate area.
The rear of the apartment holds the two bedrooms. In the primary bedroom, a wall of wardrobes is made less dense by glass doors overlooking a balcony. The design team designed the millwork to create a tunnel to the bathroom. Here green tiles extend from the floor to the wall to frame the tub. The bathroom’s hallway door was replaced with an interior window to bring further light into the hallway.
The other bathroom similarly fuses handmade, irregular tiles with stainless steel sinks, but this time in a yellow hue. The wall-hung, cylindrical sink offers a sleek contrast to the cheerful color of the space, made even brighter by the fluted screen that brings the window’s light into the space while zoning the shower.
Wood, natural light, and tiles make up the new fabric of Tlaxcala. The studio’s weaving of natural materials coheres the apartment into a livable, welcoming ode to craft.