María Montessori School in Mazatlán

Macías Peredo  EPArquitectos 


Known as the ‘Pearl of the Pacific,’ the port city of Mazatlán – in the state of Sinaloa, 21 kilometers south of the Tropic of Cancer – is one of Mexico’s leading touritst destinations. Humidity and heat most of the time, as well as the high degree of salinity in the area, were conditions that much determined this project of EPArquitectos and Macías Peredo The design sought to cool the classrooms without diminishing natural daylight, and used deterioration-resistant materials and construction techniques. Conceived as a children’s village, the complex looks inward. Its celular classrooms are arranged in nineteen independent modules with hexagonal floor plans, using hollow partitions that avoid the linear layout. Classes are contracted towards the interior in order to create a perimetral arcaded corridor that provides thermal insulation and pressurizes the air. Moreover, the modules of different heights are interconnected in such a way as to form polyhedric courtyards that act as skylights.