Vía 515 is a mixed-use complex located in Mexico City’s east end, between the airport and downtown. The project consists of three buildings, each with a designated use: shopping center, hotel, and offices.

The arrangement of the volumes on the site responds, on the one hand, to the site’s location within its context and its commercial needs, and on the other, to the structural conditions that are required in lacustrine soil.

The three-story shopping center is located on Viaducto Miguel Alemán, a main avenue with high vehicle traffic. It is laid out in a “U” shape around a central courtyard with a translucent roof and glass façade that allows natural light to enter most of the day.

Above the volume of the shopping center, an eight-story rectangular prism arises in a transverse arrangement to house a 245-room hotel that utilizes part of the roof of the shopping center as a terrace and rooftop garden. The facade of this volume consists of copper-colored aluminum panels; each panel was created individually in a specific size and shape. Together, they showcase and reinterpret the topography of the geo-volcanic transverse axis of the Valley of Mexico. Within the project, their main function is to filter direct light into the hotel rooms. The body itself is set back more than 40m from the main road, and with its façade is completely sealed, the inclusion of mullions helps in to reduce noise in the interior spaces.

On the other side of the complex, the office building is located on Añil Street. It is a square volume with glass facades and 12 stories. The facilities feature an interior courtyard and upper terraces to harness the space and the entry of natural light.

To unite the dual frontage of the complex on the same block, two side streets were designed inside the complex to form a vehicular and pedestrian circuit. These, in turn, serve as a connecting link to the underground parking and building service area. There are two parking levels, and the ground floor has room for 345 bicycles in an area where they are a very common means of transportation.

In terms of the structural design, the foundation is composed of piles and a foundation slab that is two meters thick, allowing it to maintain load-balancing and its own weight on the property. This allows it to avoid differential collapses, since the complex is situated on one of the city’s lacustrine areas. The construction required a mass pouring of 3000m3 of concrete, one of the largest nationwide.