In the vicinity of the former Carriage Factory, in a protected area, the office building with a restaurant space located at 23 Romulus Street materialized through the extension and conversion project of an interwar building, namely the former Mazil residence.
The major directions of the project were established by questioning the relationship with the place, both at an urban planning level and in relation to the existing structure, in order to create a public-purposed building in a non-intrusive manner.
Since the plot has a narrow street opening, the developed area is situated in the background, an aspect that, along with the context of the extended construction, was translated into the approach of the new ensemble. It was conceived as a play of volumes and visual relationships that invite its gradual discovery from Romulus Street.
The history of the Mazil house reveals three construction phases, with the initial footprint attributed to a single-level residence, presumed to be designed by Jean Berthet in 1885. Two interventions were made upon it during the interwar period. On the footprint of the southern section, a volume was proposed, articulated with the body of the old residence through the circulation node and the terraces located above the main entrance.
Beyond urbanistic justifications, the setbacks were used to create a balanced hierarchical discourse between the front planes of the new construction and the former residence. Between them, the staircase prefigures as a landmark element of the ensemble, whose illumination through the sandblasted glass enclosure creates a "lighthouse" effect.
The sharp-angle displacement of the footprint of the old southern sections has a dual justification. On one hand, it is determined by the presence of the tree, with the inclined plan option avoiding the transplantation of the natural element. On the other hand, the functional argument invokes directing the path through sets of steps articulated by multi-functional spaces—circulation and rest—towards the semi-basement restaurant terrace.
This path bifurcates the two access flows, towards the offices and the restaurant. As such, on a vertical plane, the functional areas were differentiated on half-levels. To enhance the identity of the office spaces, the mid-level gap was capitalized upon through openings that enhance simultaneous visual relationships between different rooms and the exterior, or just between the interior spaces. The expected effect was the fluidity of visual communication, offering a comprehensive spatial reading from any angle of the building, with the absence of barriers complementing the situation imposed by the site and the apparent boundary between old and new.
Therefore, this principle guided the approach to the large glazed surfaces on the main facade, concentrating the sightlines towards the tree. In the extension of the brick cladding, meant to soften the presence of the new volume, the openings were provided with tracery in front of the mobile casements, supporting filtered views and avoiding the integration of a surplus of protective elements. On different sides, these function as a vertical demarcation of spaces with different purposes.
At the level of materials, the legibility of the intervention was prioritized. Exposed brick pendants were used to delineate the intervention. Under the same principle, the option of exposed concrete is prefigured in the layout of the current levels, and the exposed rafters are maintained in the attic as a reference to the original roof structure.