ministerio público.
rehabilitating a 1958 civic landmark for the unidad metropolitana del ministerio público, an institutional brief whose design value had to come from inside the existing envelope.
honorable mention · 2,600 m² · usd 10 m.
mejores obras de arquitectura panamá, 2023.
what the climate asked for.
the rehabilitation of a 1958 civic landmark to house a complex 2,600 m² program for the unidad metropolitana del ministerio público: offices, public-attention areas, and forensic laboratories. budget around usd 10 m.
the existing envelope could not be modified. design value had to come from circulation, spatial hierarchy, and the integration of new uses within the limitations of the historic shell.
how we worked the problem.
we restructured flows between public, semi-public, and restricted areas, optimising connections between offices and laboratories while maintaining the hierarchical organisation requested by the client. energy strategies were limited by the impossibility of altering the façade or introducing new systems, so we made sure the building's emblematic 1958 louvres retained their functional and cultural role.
the intervention extended beyond the building itself with renovation of sidewalks and the addition of tree pits, improving accessibility and the surrounding public realm.
this project demonstrates entrópica's capacity to work in high-budget public-sector contexts under strict regulatory and programmatic constraints. design freedom was limited; the honorable mention at the **2023 mejores obras de arquitectura awards** highlights the architectural value of the approach in complex civic projects.
each move contributes incrementally.
performance is not one heroic intervention. it is the small decisions, added up. each row below is a number the model produced.
a civic landmark, restored from the inside.