Reforma Tower (Torre Reforma)

This building holds different corporative offices. It has a height of 246 meters that are displayed on 57 floors. It is more than 70 metres taller than the Torre Latinoamericana and stands on Paseo de la Reforma, beside Torre Mayor, in the skyscraper corridor that borders Chapultepec. From here you can see the Chapultepec Castle as well as the forest. Thanks to its efficiency, the Tower received the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, the best award given by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Mexican architect Benjamín Romado, through this studio LBR&A Arquitectos, was in charge of the construction. Although it is not open for the general public, it is a tower that deserves admiration. 

Why the building matters. The tower, by Benjamín Romano and LBR&A Arquitectos, was built between 2008 and 2016 and solved a hard problem: rising on Reforma without demolishing the 1920s house that stood on the plot. The house was kept and absorbed into the base, so the contrast between the historic facade and 246 metres of concrete and glass is part of the design, not an accident. Its triangular plan and two blind concrete walls answer the valley's seismic activity: it was built to criteria for withstanding a magnitude 9 earthquake, and its shape casts shadow on its neighbours for only minutes a day.

What makes it efficient. It generates solar power, has a wind system near the top and another that produces electricity from water draining downwards; it harvests rainwater and reuses almost all the water it consumes. The windows open automatically each morning to ventilate the building without air conditioning. The underground car park, for more than a thousand vehicles, is robotic.

What you can visit. The office floors are private. The lower levels hold shops and restaurants open to the public, and the tower is best appreciated from the Reforma pavement or from the Torre Latinoamericana viewpoint, which takes in the whole profile of the corridor.

Where it is. Reforma 483, colonia Cuauhtémoc, next to Torre Mayor and across from Torre BBVA, on the stretch of Reforma that borders Chapultepec. Chapultepec station on metro Line 1 is a few blocks away and trolleybus routes run along Reforma; on Sundays the avenue closes for the cycling route, which is the best time to walk it.