We are Plano Base, a collaborative architecture studio devoted to the full development of projects across the educational, institutional, commercial and residential sectors.
Our commitment and our approach weigh every detail: the context, the needs of the people who will use the building, materials, spatial quality and economic viability at every stage of the process.
The studio is based in Cali, but its work reaches well beyond it: there is built work in Bogotá and Cali, and projects and competition entries in Jamundí, Cajicá, Ipiales, Medellín, Panama City, Quibdó and San José del Guaviare. Outside Cali, we did not get to any of these cities by opening an office; we got there through competitions and commissions.
We add value
That is what we architects do: we add value. And that is the mission of Plano Base…
Behind every drawing there are names.
The Plano Base team is multidisciplinary and technical, and it is put together to suit each project. There is no account manager in between: you talk to the person who signs the drawings.
Eduardo Mejía M.
Principal ArchitectAn architect from Universidad del Valle, in its first graduating class and with a distinguished thesis. He has led the studio since 2022. He won the national public competition for the El Ensueño school and theatre in Ciudad Bolívar, and has taught design at Universidad Javeriana and Universidad del Valle.
Julián Mejía M.
Steel StructuresAn expert steel fabricator and erector: he started out as a welder and worked his way up to supervising field installation. Today he runs a full fabrication shop (laser cutting, press braking, MIG, TIG and laser welding, overhead cranes) and answers for production end to end, from the estimate to the installed piece.
Gustavo Mejía M.
Residential and PoolsA mechanical engineer from Universidad Nacional with a master's in project management, with a focus on complex construction projects, which is what he runs here. Since 2007 he has built in Colombia, the Caribbean and the United States: infinity pools and waterfalls at Bakers Bay, the fountains at Mary Brickell Village in Miami and the one at Bermuda's airport, and ultra-luxury homes in the Bahamas and Turks & Caicos.
Miguel Ortiz
Site SupervisionAn architect from Universidad del Valle. He joined the studio as an intern in 2022 and now coordinates its projects and answers for the work on site: he is the point of contact between owners, suppliers and contractors. A finalist in an international ideas competition and a DAAD scholarship recipient.
Laura Cuesta
Graphic DesignA graphic designer from Universidad del Valle. She has been with Plano Base since January 2025. She works in multimedia, editorial and web design, and in illustration. Before that she ran interactive media at Centro Magis, Universidad Javeriana in Cali, for four years.
Carlos Orozco
InfrastructureA civil engineer from Universidad de Cartagena, with a specialization in structural analysis and design and a master's from Politecnico di Torino. A Plano Base collaborator since January 2026. He designs bridges: eight steel-and-concrete composite ones, including a fifteen-span crossing. Before that he supervised a seven-storey building in Bogotá.
Nicolás Gómez
EnergyA mechanical engineer from Universidad Nacional, with Plano Base since late 2024. He has worked between the field and management since 2019: smart building commissioning, drone thermography and energy diagnostics. An ISO 50001 internal auditor and a certified drone pilot.
Diego Florez
Procurement and SupplyA mechanical engineer from Universidad Nacional with a master's from Politecnico di Milano. With Plano Base since January 2026. He is the link between design, production and suppliers, a role he has held on more than ten manufacturing projects. Before that he answered for quality control on twenty projects, from design through field installation, for clients in the United States.
Heidy Zúñiga
FinanceA public accountant from Universidad Santiago de Cali. With Plano Base since January 2023. She runs finance and project costing: making sure every expense lands on the job that caused it. Seven years of experience with construction firms in the Caribbean and the United States.
Public architecture is not a lesser commission
Most of our work is public: schools, cultural centres, administrative offices, public squares. We did not end up there by default. A public building is the only one an entire community uses without having chosen it, and that imposes a different demand: it has to work for the person who was never in a design meeting.
You do not only build a school. You build an active community, held together by an urban and educational project with a view of the future.
A school is a piece of city
We design schools the way you design a fragment of a city: with streets, squares and edges that negotiate with the neighbourhood. The dining hall, the library and the auditorium open outwards once the school day ends. The school grounds stop being a closed compound and give land back to the city.
This project is conceived as an architectural and urban system that brings together several scales: the neighbourhood, the park and the future metropolitan avenue.
The courtyard before the façade
In the tropics outdoor space is habitable all year round, so we organise a project from the void rather than from the volume. The courtyard ventilates, brings in light and sets the order; it is where whatever was not in the brief ends up happening. That holds for a house in Jamundí and for a school of two thousand students.
Its classrooms are arranged around green courtyards, echoing the traditional city block with its interior gardens.
Building to outlast the brief
Uses change; structure and space remain. We design buildings able to outlive the function they were commissioned for, with materials that age well and an economy that makes them viable to maintain. A public building that cannot be maintained is not cheap: it is disposable.
A cultural infrastructure that evolves over time, able to become a «useful ruin» as part of the legacy of the city.
Four competition awards: three in national public competitions and one invited.
- 2022
Second place, open public competition
- 2017
Second place, invited competition
- 2015
Second place, open public competition
- 2014
First place, open public competition
How can we help you design your next great space?
We are ready to help