Community-built of local resources
El Salitre Community Centre in Mexico by Omar Vergara Taller
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This two-storey building in the small town of El Salitre near Guadalajara is a true community project: directed by architects, it was local residents who did most of the work. And there’s more: before breaking ground, the locals took part in a series of workshops in order to include their ideas and wishes in the planning process.
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El Salitre is around 30 km east of the metropolis of Guadalajara and is primarily agricultural. In recent years it has lost many people, primarily men, to economic migration towards the USA. The new community centre aims to reinforce people’s ties to their town and provide a new social meeting point. It stands directly on the main road that crosses the town from west to east not far from the local bullring.
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Its construction corresponds to local building traditions supplied by resources from the surrounding region: unplastered masonry of clay brick manufactured in El Salitre, steel doors and windows lacquered rust-red, and exposed concrete pigmented in the same colour. The ground floor is shared by two commercial spaces, each of which has its own toilet and features a sales counter integrated into the entrance facade.
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The upstairs is home to a divisible event space, a lobby and more bathrooms. Right at the top, there is a rooftop terrace whose pergola casts shade over the space. A straight exterior staircase on the back side of the building connects the three levels.
© César Belio
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The construction and spatial impression of the two lower levels are quite distinct: the ground floor is a solid construction with correspondingly small openings in the facade. In contrast, the upper floor features a red-lacquered steel framework that supports the roof. The brick walls here are only chest-high, for a band of windows surrounds the space.
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The ceiling is as distinctive as it is functional: following a local tradition, the architects went with a shallow brick-vault design with grout topping. It is borne by integrated steel beams.
Architecture: Omar Vergara Taller
Location: JAL 132 60, 45439 El Salitre, Jalisco (MX)
Civil engineers: Arriaga Castillo Ingenieros
Gross floor area: 300 m²
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