Autumn 2019

55 Mar19386 Pushing the Boundaries of Sustainable Design Based in Mexico City, spAce is an architecture and design firm that works within the corporate, education and hospitality spheres. They have forged an almost peerless reputation in sustainable design, relishing in the unique challenges that eco-friendly considerations bring to the table. As a result of their efforts, LUXlife named spAce Mexico’s Leaders in Sustainable Architecture in the 2019 Leading Designers programme. We spoke with Associate Director and renowned Architect Juan Carlos Baumgartner to find out more. Sustainable design has thrived over the last decade as firms the world over relish in the opportunities, and difficulties, of creating truly eco-friendly spaces. Of course, it’s not enough these days to simply ‘tick boxes’ – the space in mind needs to be interesting and unique, challenging conventions and pushing the boundaries of what has been achieved before. This is very much spAce’s ethos and culture, as they look to reinvent and revitalise what has been done before. As Juan explains, spAce’s work is rarely simple, and requires an expert team on hand to ensure that the firm’s founding goals are always adhered to. “Intending to be the best, if not the biggest, we have an interdisciplinary staff of highly talented professionals who take into account the important of comprehensive research and technological development. We are always seeking after sustainable solutions which not only respect the environment but actually help to improve our natural habitat. We are convinced that ideas move faster when you think of people, technology, and space side by side. In this way we have begun by putting intelligent people connected with intelligent technologies into intelligent spaces.” Juan continues, discussing in more detail the role that spAce’s staff play in ensuring that every project is completed seamlessly, regardless of size, scope or complexity. “SpAce is comprised of our Director Partner, five associates and a large multi-disciplinary staff of Architects, Graphical Designers, Surveyors, Virtual World Designers, and Psychologists, as well as Sustainability, Acoustic and Lighting Consultants. Each project is managed by a partner and, no matter if it is a small space, large building, campus, offices, or shops, we do know that to achieve a great solution we have to begin from the inside. That is the basis of our philosophy: designing from inside out.” Perhaps where spAce truly distinguishes itself is through their innovative approach to design, which has started to combine psychological theories and methodologies to elevate spaces to new heights. “In the last 15 to 20 years, Neuroscience has developed more information on how our brain works and, for a few years now, we have been working with neuroscientists to develop techniques that incorporate this feedback into our designs. We currently have a partnership with a Neuroscience Lab and we are working on ongoing research to be on the cutting edge of what we call ‘NeuroArchitecture’. This ties intrinsically together with spAce’s future, which is occupied with capitalising on this new area of research. “We have been working on a theory called ‘Design For Happiness’, that works on the relation between physical environments and positive emotions. We believe that, in the future, the impact that physical environments have on human psychological wellbeing is going to be much more clear, to an extreme that we believe that architecture will be able to help cure mental illnesses.” Company: spAce Name: Juan Carlos Baumgartner, Associate Director Address: Mexico City, Mexico Website: https://en.spacemex.com/ Telephone: +52 55 5683 9551