A refurbished old factory building in the heart of Santiago will become the site of Foster + Partners' first Chilean project, according to renderings released by the firm yesterday.

The newly unveiled La Fabrica master plan takes the former textile factory as its centerpiece and expands to an adjacent site featuring a 550-unit, primarily timber residential complex that will be, in terms of material, the first-of-its-kind in the region, according to the architect. 

Foster + Partners first extended the shopping mall that currently occupies the factory building and then added various diverse programmatic elements like low-rise offices, medical and entertainment facilities, and restaurants which are connected via a series of pedestrian walkways originating from the centerpiece.

The mixed-used site then flows seamlessly into the high-density residential development, which is anchored by an orthogonal square and also features street-level retail and dining amenities for the four eight-story buildings with smaller squares to mark the delineation between public and private space. 

“The project brings together the revitalization of a historic landmark, the creation of an exciting mixed-use neighborhood, and the construction of one of the largest new mass timber buildings in the region,” Foster + Partners’ David Summerfield said in a statement.

In all, the master plan will add a vibrant and prosperous new urban quarter to Santiago’s San Joaquin neighborhood. A construction timeline for the project was not available at press time.