Cesar Martinez
Part 1 Architectural Assistant
Selected Works 2024–2026
RIVA MATERNA
Architecture of Care, Water, and Everyday Life | Venice, Italy | 2024
RivaMaterna is a small maternity centre located at the edge of a Venetian island, where the canal meets the open lagoon. Positioned next to an existing hospital, it balances quiet seclusion with immediate access to medical care, connected by water, land, and proximity.
The project explores a space between home and hospital: an environment that feels calm and domestic rather than clinical. Five birthrooms are organised along the lagoon’s edge, each designed with generous daylight, natural materials, and direct access to a private balcony.
Every room includes its own bathroom, kitchenette, and resting space, allowing families to feel supported and at ease. Two rooms accommodate water births, while three are arranged for natural delivery.
A shared corridor and central garden create moments for pause and quiet encounter, encouraging gentle movement through the building. At the water’s edge, a small port serves both as a peaceful threshold to the lagoon and as practical emergency access when needed.
LIBRERIA NEW COVENANT
New-Build Bookshop | Tampico, Mexico | 2025-2026
Collaboration with Architect Aldo Diaz
Role: Design Development & Technical Drawings Software: AutoCAD, Revit
Librería New Covenant is a relocation project for a family-run bookshop in Tampico, Mexico, a place I grew up visiting and helping in as a child. Being involved in the design of its new building was therefore both professionally formative and personally meaningful.
Working alongside a practising architect, I contributed to the development of the scheme from early layout studies through to drawings for council submission. The brief called for a single-storey bookshop with the structural capacity to accommodate a future second floor.
The site includes an existing house at the rear, which will remain, so the new building was positioned at the front of the plot to strengthen its presence on the street and improve visibility and access.
I assisted in producing floor plans, sections, elevations, and coordinated technical drawings, including plumbing, electrical, and foundation layouts. Through this process, I gained practical experience responding to real site constraints, client priorities, and the requirements of construction documentation.
CADENA AHOGADA EN LOSA PERIMETRAL F'c =210 kg/cm. 4 vars. de 3/8"Ø y EST 1/4"Ø @ 20 cm.
ARMADA CON 4 Vs.
CADENA DE DESPLANTE DE 3/8"Ø Y ESTRIBOS DE 1/4"Ø @ 20 Cms.
VENTANA DE ALUMINIO
ESTRUIDO ANODIZADO NATURAL DE ANCHO, VIDRIO SEMIDOBLE
8 MICRAS CON PERFIL DE 1 1/2" Y MOSQUITERO DE ALUMINIO.
f'c=200kg/cm2
ASH HOLLOW
Affordable Housing for Young Families | Frome, England | 2025
Hollow is a housing proposal for eight young families in Lower Keyford, Frome, responding to rising housing costs and the need for more accessible, community-oriented living. The site sits between industrial buildings to the south and conventional housing to the north, occupying a threshold between two distinct conditions.
The homes are organised around a shared courtyard and connected by a continuous pergola that defines circulation and collective space. This structure provides shelter and softens the transition between public and private, creating a semi-enclosed threshold where neighbours can gather informally or simply pass through with a sense of familiarity.
Each dwelling includes a private garden, while the overall U-shaped arrangement creates a sheltered central space that encourages interaction without compromising privacy. The project explores how modest housing can foster belonging through spatial organisation rather than density alone.
The name “Ash Hollow” references both the native ash trees of Somerset and the enclosing form that shapes the communal courtyard.
