Defining a new standard of luxury

Legend anchors an exclusive destination for living, leisure, and commerce in Andares Zapopan, a high-rise commercial district in Guadalajara, Mexico. Located midway between central Guadalajara and the lush Bosque de la Primavera, the development seeks to establish a new standard for luxury centered on health and wellness.

Conceived from the inside out—merging architecture, views, and landscape—the 52-story tower contains 7,900 square meters of office space, 190 hotel rooms, and 202 residential units on the highest floors. The sophisticated, yet simple design embraces indoor-outdoor living, with lush planted courtyards at ground level, communal terraces and rooftop decks, and private outdoor spaces. SOM collaborated with Mexico City-based Estudio AMA on the architectural design, with Héctor Esrawe of the award-winning Esrawe Studio leading the design of the hotel interiors.

Design rooted in a sense of place

Legend is a world-class, international project, yet is rooted in local materials and craft, taking inspiration from the landscapes and geology of the Jalisco region. The facade design seeks to evoke the vast, rocky expanses of the Jaliscan hinterlands; the tower is wrapped in bands of precast concrete, which counter the tower’s vertical massing with strong horizontal lines. Each band is composed of vertical concrete shading fins, hand-finished by local artisans to achieve a rough and chiseled texture. The concrete has a distinctive red hue, derived from an aggregate that uses local volcanic stone. The facade anchors an overall color and material palette that evokes the subtle hues of stone, plants, and building materials that characterize the region.

The ground level is paved with a mix of cobblestone and fieldstone, while terracotta tiles line the walls of interior public spaces. Other materials, including wood, leather, and locally produced tile, are muted and neutral to blend harmoniously with the concrete facade.

Planned for exclusive living

With residential units surrounding a central core, the layout of the tower provides residents with access to each unit without passing neighboring doors. Each unit opens to landscape views through floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors that lead to private outdoor balconies and terraces. Wellness and communal amenities at a midpoint terrace level tout stunning sunset views above the Bosque de la Primavera.

Efficiency in construction and solar performance

Tailored to Guadalajara’s sunny, subtropical climate, Legend’s design prioritizes energy performance and thermal comfort. The team undertook a range of daylight studies to inform the building enclosure design. The precast concrete fins are precisely tuned, in their shape and spacing, to mitigate solar heat gain and glare. Above the terraces, at the areas of greatest sun exposure, the fins are rotated outward to provide greater protection. SOM’s architecture and engineering team developed an internal pipe connection that connects precast fins into larger modular assembly pieces. This modular design allows for quick and efficient construction, while retaining the sense of craftsmanship conveyed by the textured concrete finish.