Project Description
Overview
La Casa del Piano is located on a 54,000 ft2/5,000m2 tract of the El Peñón of Temascaltepec, near Valle del Bravo — a two hour drive from Mexico City. The region is known for hang-gliding and paragliding due to its geography and ideal weather conditions. The studio is owned by renowned Latin Grammy-winner/Mastering Engineer (and avid hang glider) Luis Felipe Herrera, founder of Masterhead Lab Mastering.
Program
A multi-functional facility for arts and culture projects, La Casa del Piano is primarily focused on music recording. It is designed with impeccable acoustics, high-end equipment, and inspirational surroundings making it ideal for live acoustic recording, and fully adaptable for a wide range of genres and cultural performances. The live room was acoustically designed for a warm sound, and the control room conceived to facilitate critical recording decisions. The live and control rooms were designed from the ground up by WSDG to meet the highest pro-audio industry standards, and are equally suitable for recitals, classes and other cultural events.
Design
Designed by famed-Chilean architect Cristobal Cañas, the building is focused from the ground-up on an environmentally sustainable design program and world-class state-of-the art technologies. Cañas served as a project manager and designer at Handel Architects in New York and is recognized for his innovative work on NYC’s 9/11 Memorial & Museum. La Casa del Piano is distinguished by an architectural/acoustic design led by WSDG. Inspired by the lines and geometry of antique hang-gliding designs, including intersecting curves that create organic shapes which relate harmonically to the nature of flight. The complex is powered by solar panels, and engages a futuristic system of biodigesters and rainwater catchment/recycling. The facility was constructed with a “Rammed Earth” process, an ancient technique, which maintains a rustic architecture throughout the installation. Its green roof supports a plethora of vegetation which serves as a thermal and acoustic insulator and as an air purifier that reduces the environmental temperature and regulates humidity.