PLASTIK Architects Wraps a Narrow Mexican Office Block in a Triangulated Steel and Glass Screen

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This article covers topics related to Office Building, Architecture, Building Planning & Design, Open Building, Architecture Project, Building Design. On a 10-by-30-meter plot facing a wooded creek in Mexico, a stone box and a faceted glass grid turn daylight into the office's defining material.

On a 10-by-30-meter plot facing a wooded creek in Mexico, a stone box and a faceted glass grid turn daylight into the office's defining material.

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UNI Editorial published Blog under Office Building, Architecture on Oct 10, 2026

Narrow urban lots are where office buildings usually give up. With 10 meters of frontage and 30 meters of depth, most developers stack floor plates, glaze the short ends and accept a dim core. For the Chavez Corporate Offices, completed in 2017 on a plot in the northern part of a Mexican city facing a wooded creek, PLASTIK Architects take a different approach. They set out to see how much spatial drama 600 square meters can hold.

The answer is a stone-framed box fronted by a triangulated steel and glass grid, with a triple-height lobby cut into the plan behind it. What interests us is not the faceted facade itself, which could easily have been a branding gesture. It is the way that screen works as a light instrument, projecting moving geometry onto the interior and turning an ordinary reception wall into the building's most memorable surface.

A Stone Frame Around a Faceted Face

Front elevation with a triangulated glass facade framed by a stone box, seen at dusk with red light trails on the street

Street view of the stone-framed triangular glazing at blue hour, with a blurred pedestrian walking past the numbered wall

Front elevation of the triangulated glass facade under a blue sky with wispy clouds, a red car parked at the entry

From the street, the composition is simple: a heavy stone surround holds a lighter, diagonal infill. That contrast is the right call. Without the frame, the triangulated glazing would read as restless; with it, the facade becomes a picture held in place. At dusk the glass turns into a lantern, and the stone edges sharpen the outline instead of disappearing.

The building number painted on the wall and the parked car at the entry are small details, but they place the project firmly in its context. This is a working office on a working street, not a pavilion.

Street facade with a triangulated glass and steel grid above a deep canopy, a red car parked in front under blue sky

Upward view of the triangulated facade with corrugated metal panels, glazed openings and a red circular emblem under a cloudy sky

Looking up, the facade shows more layers than the elevation suggests. Corrugated metal panels sit between the glazed openings, and a deep canopy shelters the entry below. The red circular emblem adds the company's identity without the facade turning into signage. The triangulation is structural rhythm first and graphic second, and that order matters.

Street facade of a stone-clad upper volume above glazed floors and a folding louvered garage gate under a cloudy sky

Angled view of the stone-clad street facade with a glazed office floor above an open parking court and folding gates, under thin cloud

The opposite street face is noticeably more restrained. A stone-clad upper volume floats over a glazed office floor and an open parking court closed by folding louvered gates. Having two frontages lets PLASTIK separate representation from service: one end performs, the other parks cars. On a lot this tight, refusing to make both ends do everything is a smart decision.

Sunlight as Wall Finish

High angle view of the triangulated steel and glass facade casting sunlit triangles across a white lobby wall with a red car outside

Tall white lobby wall covered in triangular sunlight patterns as a blurred figure walks past a reception desk

Man looking up at the diagonal steel glazing grid in the lobby, with sunlight triangles on the wall and a black sofa below

This is the project's real payoff. Sun passing through the steel grid throws sharp triangles across a tall white lobby wall, and the pattern shifts through the day. The architects needed no mural, cladding or feature lighting to achieve this. The facade casts its own decoration, and it costs nothing to maintain.

Double-height lobby with a timber reception desk and triangular sunlight patterns across the white wall as a person walks past

Lobby seen from above, with black balcony edges, a wooden desk and sharp triangles of sunlight on the wall

The palette around this effect is deliberately quiet: white walls, black balcony edges and a single timber reception desk. That restraint lets the light do the work. A busier interior would have drowned it. Seen from above, the lobby reads almost like a sundial, with the desk as a fixed point and the light moving around it.

Bridges, Voids and Overlooks

Steel bridge with glass balustrade crossing the double-height lobby as a blurred figure walks above lounge chairs

Looking down through the triangulated steel window wall toward two seated visitors and a glass-floored bridge in daylight

Upper walkway beside the triangulated steel window wall, with a man at the glass rail overlooking office desks

A triple-height void in a 10-meter-wide building is a real sacrifice of floor area, and PLASTIK justifies it by threading circulation through it. A steel bridge with glass balustrades crosses the lobby. Upper walkways run along the window wall, letting staff look down onto lounges and desks below. Every trip between rooms becomes a moment of looking out and down.

The glass-floored bridge is a bold choice for an office, and it ties the floors together visually. In a building this small, that shared view matters more than another few desks would have.

Work Floors Behind Glass

Open office floor behind frameless glass partitions, with the triangulated facade grid and a red car visible below through the window

Open office with frameless glass partitions, workstations and recessed ceiling lights reflected in the glossy white floor

Open office beside a triangulated lattice screen over a window, with green trees visible beyond and daylight on glossy white floor tiles

The workplaces carry the same transparency through frameless glass partitions, recessed downlights and a glossy white floor that bounces daylight deep into the plan. Where the triangulated lattice meets the office windows, it filters the view to the trees beyond, a reminder of the creek the site faces. The screen softens glare without hiding the landscape.

Our reservation is that the glossy surfaces and all-glass partitions trade acoustic and visual privacy for openness. That suits a lean corporate team, but it would strain a busier one.

Director's office with a dark wood desk, slatted metal ceiling panel and frosted glass partition as a person walks past in blur

Exterior balcony walkway with stone-clad wall and ceiling, wood-look tile floor and glass-partitioned offices along one side

The director's office shifts register, with a dark wood desk, a slatted metal ceiling panel and frosted glass. It is warmer and more enclosed without leaving the system. Outside, a balcony walkway wrapped in stone on wall and ceiling, with wood-look tile underfoot, turns a corridor into a semi-outdoor room. In this climate that is a sensible way to circulate.

A Planted Stair at the Threshold

Entry courtyard with a staircase of stone treads above a planted bed of young tree, shrubs and white pebbles, with a person blurred mid-climb

Stone-clad stairwell with a slim leafy tree in a planted bed and a blurred figure descending the steps

Stone treads float above a planted bed of a young tree, shrubs and white pebbles at the entry courtyard. A slim tree grows up through the stone-clad stairwell. These are modest gestures, but they bring the material weight of the street frame inside and give the building a green core in place of a service shaft. As the trees mature, these spaces will only improve.

Plans and Drawings

Ground floor plan drawing with parking bays at both ends, a triple-height lobby, restrooms, a kitchenette and an archive room

First floor plan drawing showing a terrace, a triple-height void, a meeting room, a director's office and a garage roof deck

Second floor plan drawing showing a triple-height void, workstations, stairs, private offices and a terrace, with a north arrow below

The plans show how carefully the long, thin lot is divided. Parking occupies both ends at ground level, the triple-height lobby anchors the middle, and support spaces such as restrooms, a kitchenette and an archive tuck along the edges. Upper floors arrange a meeting room, the director's office, workstations and private offices around the void, with terraces and a garage roof deck making use of every leftover surface.

Elevation drawings of the west facade with a triangulated screen and the east facade with terraces, plus parked cars and standing figures

Longitudinal section drawing showing stacked office floors, terraces, a basement and a triple-height vestibule, with a vintage car parked at left

The elevations confirm the logic we read on site: a triangulated screen on the west facade and terraces on the east. The longitudinal section stacks a basement, office floors and terraces around the triple-height vestibule. It shows clearly how the void lets light from the screen fall through the full depth of the building.

Why This Project Matters

Small corporate offices rarely get the architectural attention lavished on headquarters towers, yet they make up much of the built fabric of growing cities. The Chavez Corporate Offices show that a narrow lot and a modest program can still produce a building with a strong spatial idea, provided the architect commits to one move and follows it through.

That move here is the facade as light filter, with the interior designed to receive what it casts. You can debate the glossy finishes or the loss of floor area to the void. Still, the lesson carries over: treat the envelope as a working tool rather than a skin, and even a 10-meter-wide office can become a place where people stop and look up.

Chavez Corporate Offices by PLASTIK Architects, Mexico. Area: 600 m². Completed: 2017. Photography: Oscar Hernández.

About the Studio

PLASTIK Architects

Official website of PLASTIK Architects, one of the studios behind this project.

plastikarchitects.com

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