Cabo Sports Complex launches its sleek earth construction

(Image credit: César Béjar)

published 6 May 2023

A desert site in Baja California Sur plays host to the Cabo Sports Complex – the new home for the Mexican Tennis Open. Designed by Mexico City studio Taller Hector Barroso, the project blends effortlessly the sustainable architecture of earth construction, timber, raw surfaces, and a sense of modernist architecture in a combination that feels entirely fitting for its fascinating, arid landscape.

Cabo Sports Complex by Taller Hector Barroso

The Cabo Sports Complex site is separated from the beach by the Cabo San Lucas San Jose del Cabo highway. Responding to this, the architecture team conceived the sports complex using elegant, long, compacted earth walls that wrap around the site, protecting it from sun and noise.

'Understanding the meaning of the landscape was crucial for the project. It showed a world where it was possible to create an architecture that, instead of making noise, seeks to remain silent in its context, resting amid the extraordinary natural spectacle we are offered by nature,' the architecture team write.

The structure, due to its carefully selected material and volumes, feels close to the ground and entirely of its place. The open air pitch at its heart is surrounded by sculptural seating that cascades from the top of the surrounding walls.

Timber pergolas provide shelter from the hot sun when needed, while adding an extra layer of texture. Native to Baja California plant species have been planted across the site, and will provide a valuable green element to the complex once they mature.

concrete and wood pergola at Cabo Sports Complex

Barroso and his team have proven their credentials in a tactile, context-specific architecture through crafting a series of residences in the capital and beyond – the LC710 housing project in Mexico City, a scheme designed around three patios, is a case in point. Here, the architect has translated his expertise in creating an architecture of warmth and intimacy from a domestic setting to a key hub of sports architecture, making his mark in public building too.

steps and seating at Cabo Sports Complex

tallerhectorbarroso.com

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Mexico

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture Editor at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018) and Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020).