Mexican architecture firm Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados (PPAA) has completed a low-cost rural housing prototype in Hidalgo, Mexico. 

The project, named Apán, was developed as part of the group - called "Infonavit Practical Housing Research and Experimentation Laboratory". 

Infonavit is a federal organization that was established in 1972 and provides housing for workers and other individuals employed in the formal sector contributing to Mexico's economy. 

Infonavit's initiative includes 32 experimental prototypes of rural housing for the Research Center for Sustainable Development (CIDS).

A research site run by the CIDS in Hidalgo comprises 32 experimental prototypes, two of them were designed by Mexican architects Tatiana Bilbao and Frida Escobedo. 

The aim of the project was to build a low-cost housing in a rural context that met the characteristics of decent housing as well as the needs of the users. 

For this project, PPAA was commissioned for a site in the city of Zaragoza, Coahuila, with the specific purpose of achieving complete adaptability of the housing prototype to the site. 

"Its location and proximity to the city of Piedras Negras generate a particular social context due to its proximity to the United States," said the studio. 

"The inhabitants of this town have a strong aspiration to the American way of life, which was reflected in the buildings of the area." 

"On the other hand, Zaragoza has an extreme climate and a lot of humidity thanks to the San Antonio River, which is a branch of the Rio Grande River. For this reason, the acequias, or canals, can be seen around the different towns of the municipality."

The house is built from two volumes that are interlocked each other in vertical and lateral way. The architects used a local construction system based on masonry with a dyed cement-sand coating in finishes. 

All the walls of the project have a concrete layer to withstand the climatic conditions of the local humidity. The roof system recovers the vernacular system of the rural houses, like the traditional rainwater drainage system.

Two volumes divide the private spaces from the public ones, recovering elements of traditional architecture programs. With the main entrance facing south and the service areas concentrated to the north, a windowless facade is generated, while the rear facade opens up to the landscape. 

The general layout of the housing is proposed according to the growth in the number of family members. The system works by repeating the same module sideways. The project has an intermediate height of 3.26m with the purpose of dignifying rural housing through the creation of larger spaces.

Project facts

Project name: Apán 

Architects: Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados 

Location: Hidalgo, Mexico 

Size: 58m2

Team: Pablo Pérez Palacios, Miguel Vargas, Jesús García, Laura Fernández, Carla Celis, Jorge Quiroga, Enrique Villegas

All images © Rafael Gamo

Drawings © PPAA

> via Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados