Glass and concrete boxes separate spaces in Mexico City housing
Glass boxes frame a tennis court, gym and pool set into the basement of this Mexico apartment building, which is formed from a series of stacked concrete blocks that cascade down a hill towards a wooded glen (+ slideshow).
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Onnis-Luque_Onnis-Luque_dezeen_468_0.jpg)
Designed by Enrique Macotela Dosal, Serrano Monjaraz Arquitectos, A.flo Arquitectos, the Reforma 2394 apartment block sits in an affluent neighbourhood on Paseo de la Reforma, a wide boulevard that cuts diagonally through the heart of Mexico City.
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Rafael-Gamo_dezeen_468_3.jpg)
To fit the hillside plot, the building was conceived as a series of stacked concrete blocks that descend the slope towards an area of woodland – a popular treatment for sloping sites, with recent examples including a house on a slope in the Rhine Valley and a submerged concrete home overlooking an Italian lake.
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Rafael-Gamo_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
This arrangement diminishes the stature of the building from the street, giving it the appearance of a two-storey block. The uppermost storey overhangs the ground floor block and is punctured by a long panoramic window overlooking a water feature in the building's forecourt.
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Rafael-Gamo_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
"The project is located in one of the most exclusive areas in Mexico City," said the architects, "flying over a glen, and structured one over the other to become a cascade of concrete elements."
"The main concept was to design stacking houses that create independent relations to neighbours, adding value with the common areas – pool, tennis court, gym, square and common room."
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Rafael-Gamo_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
A pair of ramps lead down at the side of the building to a double-storey underground car park, while steps continue down to the private residences and glen.
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Rafael-Gamo_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
The six apartments contained within the stepped blocks range between 400 and 1,200 square metres. Each has its own private entrance and a garden that occupies the roof of the apartment below.
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Onnis-Luque_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
"The principal challenge of the project is [keeping] the healthy distance of the owners to become not a simple apartment but a casa of their own," said the architects. "The concept has been very well received as the building is complete with six happy owners with low interaction."
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Onnis-Luque_Onnis-Luque_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
Shared facilities including a pool, gym, tennis court and spa are set within glass boxes on the fifth basement level, which also provides access to the glen.
Related content: see more stacked block architecture
While the building has predominantly concrete finishings, the flooring within each of the glassed-in areas differs depending on its function – wood for the gym, grass for the courts and stone for the pool.
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Rafael-Gamo_dezeen_468_0.jpg)
Residents can enjoy views of the secluded woodland through the glass walls that surround the pool, while a narrow border around the tennis courts provides a space to observe matches.
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Onnis-Luque_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
Nearby in Paseo de la Reformas Mexican architect Fernando Romero – who is also responsible for the city's anvil-shaped museum of Latin American art – is developing a public park above a 10-lane road.
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_Onnis-Luque_dezeen_468_7.jpg)
Romero is also working with Norman Foster on a new international airport on the outskirts of the city. According to the project team, its lightweight glass and steel structure, which will feature spans of over 100 metres to create a vaulted roof, will be "like nothing else in the world".
Project credits:
Architecture: Enrique Macotela Dosal DDP & José Andrés Flores Rivera A.flo Arquitectos / Juan Pablo Serrano SMA
Builder: DDP + Postensa / Convive
Structural engineer: Postensa + Esteban Astudillo
Builder surveyor: A.flo Arquitectos
Project collaborators: Ricardo Mendez
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_dezeen_1.gif)
![Reforma 2394 by Aflo Arquitectos Mexico](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/09/Reforma-2394_Aflo-Arquitectos-Mexico_dezeen_2.jpg)