Reforma 222

The project. The complex was designed by Teodoro González de León with engineer Beatriz Medina Sosa; construction started in 2004 and it opened in 2008. Three towers —two residential, one for offices— sit on a three-level retail podium, on a plot that had stood underused for years at one of the most visible corners of Paseo de la Reforma. One figure often quoted: the foundations were excavated to nearly a hundred metres, among the deepest in the city, because of the valley's old lake bed.

What is inside. The retail gallery mixes fashion stores, cafés and restaurants with terraces facing Reforma, and doubles as a covered shortcut and resting point for anyone walking the avenue. The residential buildings have their own private facilities, including a gym and a theatre.

What is around it. It stands in colonia Juárez, on the edge of the Zona Rosa: Leonora Carrington's crocodile sculpture —part of the Reforma sculpture route— Casa de Francia and the Glorieta de la Palma are all within a block or two, and the Rufino Tamayo Museum, also by González de León, is further along the same avenue towards Chapultepec. The Turibús stops on the esplanade on the Reforma side.

Getting there. The address is Paseo de la Reforma 222. The nearest metro station is Insurgentes on Line 1, a few blocks away, and several Metrobús and trolleybus routes run along Reforma and Insurgentes. Being right on the avenue, public transport is easier than driving.

When to come. Weekday lunchtimes bring the office crowd from the surrounding towers, so the restaurant level is at its busiest between 14:00 and 16:00; evenings and Sundays are calmer. The stretch of Reforma outside is closed to cars on Sunday mornings for the city's cycling route, which makes it the pleasantest time to walk from here to Chapultepec or towards the Ángel de la Independencia.