79bogotá represents a modern, sustainable, and conscious way of living in the city of Bogotá. Located a few steps from Zona T, the building was constructed in 1984 as an office project and operated as such from that year and until 2023. In 2023, the owner and his family met with the architecture firm Escalar, today Escalar Veinte18, with the vision of transforming the old office building into a green residential project with vibrant, tasteful, and meaningful spaces to host guests.
The project faced two major structural challenges: redistributing the floor plan to achieve the residential goal, and updating the building to current regulations by carrying out essential structural reinforcements. 90% of the original structure has been preserved — a valuable achievement for sustainable construction, as it is well known that the most sustainable building is the one that already exists.
The main modifications were the reconstruction of the staircase and the elevator — providing greater accessibility to the building — and the transformation of the former basement, where the building’s parking lot was originally located, into a large light-filled garden around which the building’s amenities and a privileged room with direct access to this garden are arranged. The green heart of 79bogotá.
Fundamental sustainable construction practices were employed according to the EDGE standard — Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies. Guided by this standard, 79bogotá reduces at least 20% of its projected operational energy consumption, water consumption, and incorporated energy in materials, compared to conventional construction practices in Bogotá. Currently, less than 2% of housing units in Colombia comply with the EDGE standard.
The story of 79bogotá dates back to the 1930s, when the area between streets 72 and 85 was known as the Lago Gaitán Park — a family-friendly area with a navigable lake. 79bogotá is located in this area, today a vibrant commercial hub that still echoes a time when Bogotá’s residents rode horses or streetcars, and rowed across the lake.
The story of the Lago Gaitán was short-lived, as the 1950s brought commercial and urban development to the area. The park gave way to shops, cafés, and Bogotá’s first shopping center, El Lago, while the urban expansion of the city to the north connected street 80 to the municipality of Usaquén, which was incorporated into Bogotá in 1954.
The building that today is 79bogotá was constructed in 1984 as an office building. In 1987, a young entrepreneur who sold computers from the garage at his parents’ house was offered his first workspace there. Over time, he built a successful technology company and gradually bought each office until becoming the sole owner of the building in 2004.
From 1984 to 2021, the building functioned as office spaces. In 2023, it was transformed into a green residential project led by the architecture firm Escalar Veinte18 in collaboration with the owner and his wife. The renovation transformed the building into a modern, sustainable, and vibrant space for hosting guests — offering a new way to inhabit Bogotá.
79bogotá supports the social and economic strengthening of artisanal trades in Colombia and invites its guests to learn about these crafts. The artisanal work involved in the building preserves traditional skills and promotes a local economy that values sustainable and circular economy practices, including recycling and the use of natural dyes. The interior design incorporates the work of local artisans through tables, chairs, leather, glass, lamps made from iraca palm, and rugs woven from fique palm. Every detail tells a story.
The carpentry, for both built-in furniture and for tables and chairs uses recycled raw materials sourced from Primadera, a 100% Colombian company that regenerates up to 60% recycled wood through local labor and design.
The art collection at 79bogotá features original works by artist Ángela Jiménez Pérez (Bogotá, 1960), whose sensitivity and delicacy enrich every corner of the space. Ángela’s oeuvre reanimates the traditional craft of indigo extraction and dye in Barichara (department of Santander), and transforms this labor into a collection of drawings and sculptures that feature hues of blue and indigo. Marked by organic strokes that reveal an expressive fluidity, her works create compositions akin to narrative sequences that, joined by a lifelong sensitivity cultivated by Ángela, now transform into a graphic poem that flows through 79bogotá. Her work engages in a dialogue with the architecture and the surrounding nature at 79bogotá, creating a unique aesthetic experience for each guest.
