Since the relocation of the international airport to an outlying district a good ten years ago, Quito, which was originally characterized by low-rise and sprawling buildings, has been growing upwards. With the brutalist-looking IQON Residences, the skyline of the burgeoning Ecuadorian capital gains a residential and office high-rise full of character set against the spectacular backdrop of the surrounding Andes. Situated on the edge of La Carolina park, a city forest with expansive parklands in Quito’s business district, the city’s tallest high-rise offers unobstructed views of the park and the Pichincha volcano.
The building’s form follows the geometric contours of the site, which is shaped like a mirror-inverted “L.” At the corner, the façade fans out on both sides, creating a curve from which the individual stacked apartments with their terraces protrude like pixels. Each terrace is planted with greenery and a tree, whose planter extends into the apartment below as a funnel-shaped sculpture. Once the native trees and plants outgrow their planters, they can be relocated to green spaces throughout the city and replaced with new greenery cultivated on site. Ideally, IQON Residences will thus become not only a vertical extension of La Carolina park but also part of a city-wide green cycle.
Quito’s temperate, perpetually spring-like climate – the city is located around 20 kilometers south of the equator – makes it possible to operate the high-rise building without insulation, air conditioning or heating systems. The raw exposed concrete characterizes the building’s lively look, while serving as a structural framework. In addition, the concrete provides thermal regulation by retaining heat at night and cooling during the day. Each floor is made up of apartments extending across the entire depth of the building, thus featuring terraces on both the north and south façades – naturally facilitating cross-ventilation. The 215 residential units are composed of three contemporary apartment types of varying sizes, complemented by communal leisure facilities such as a spa and squash court. The ground floor, which includes a public plaza, retail spaces, and artworks, connects the park to the rest of the neighborhood via a new pathway. Inside, marble, green shades, and blackened steel set subtle accents in combination with the dominant exposed concrete.