Category: project

Location: Santa Ana, Costa Rica
Project Year: 2023
Area:  253m2
Photographer: Andrés Garcia Lachner

Located in San José, Costa Rica, Casa Patio is a tribute to the traditional colonial design where the houses open to the interior courtyard and the common areas surround it.  

The volumetry is created from the separation of two volumes that house the public and private program, united by a central courtyard, hence its name. Thanks to this approach, the residence manages to insert itself into the existing vegetation and explores the typology of the courtyard-house. The layout also allows the residents to inhabit the spaces with complete independence, as a perimeter corridor connects the different areas.   

The project proposes the opening at all times to the central courtyard designed with native species, the characteristic door-window present around the perimeter of the courtyard frame the view from inside the volumes, making the courtyard the soul of the house; this connection given by the large windows promotes cross ventilation in all rooms and the use of natural light. The choice of color palette and materiality make vegetation the main element in the overall composition of the house. Its white walls make the spaces better lit and this is reflected in lower electricity consumption, this added to other passive strategies such as the collection and storage of rainwater for later irrigation of the gardens and the use of local materials and labor for the design of furniture make casa patio another example of the search for sustainable architecture influenced by local vernacular architecture.  

“We like architecture to reveal itself in the unique and congruent solutions to the specific conditions of each project, and that these can contribute in terms of place, context, user and our own architectural concerns.”  

The courtyard permeates all the rooms of the house with the intention that the vegetation takes over, in search of a quiet, restorative and serene refuge. 

Location: Escazú, Costa Rica
Year: 2019
Area:  38m2
Photographer: Andrés Garcia Lachner

Sencha Tea Bar is a shop in Avenida Escazú, one of San José’s busiest shopping/corporate centers. The wide variety of dining and retail options make it a popular destination among visitors and locals alike. The strategy is a brand redesign for Sencha Tea, rejuvenating and bringing it closer to the final user, not just in the architectural style which is more colorful and modern but also in their value proposition, expanding the line of products to offer prepared beverages. 

The shop is located on the ground floor of the shopping center and faces an open plaza. It sits next to the lobby area for corporate offices on one side and has a passageway to the parking lot on the other. Although most of the clientele is usually pedestrian, the shop can easily be seen from the project’s main road. 

The store is made up of a Tea Bar in the front and a product display area in the back. In this way clients can order their favorite tea drinks as well as purchase the products with which the drinks are made. It also has an outdoor seating area and a neon-lit selfie station. 

The material palette is based on the existing scheme used in previous Sencha Tea shops. It combines white metal, wood, concrete and steel mesh. Emphasis is given to areas of interest such as the bar and selfie station using led and neon lights to give it a playful and colorful touch.

Location: Santa Ana, Costa Rica
Project Year: 2019
Area:  77m2
Photographer: Andrés Garcia Lachner

CHIMPA is a boutique furniture and decoration store located in Lindora, Costa Rica. It’s designs focus on re-using and re-imagining materials and objects to create unique pieces, whilst maintaining a low carbon footprint.
It is located on the north-east corner of the Plaza Futura commercial center and is accessed through an internal green plaza, offering exterior views on all two of its facades.
Because CHIMPA is a furniture, lighting fixtures and decoration store, it is important to create an atmosphere where different set pieces can be exhibited whilst maintaining a sense of harmony. A metallic grid is installed in the ceiling as a structural element from which lamps and hanging pots can be hung. Furniture and decorations are positioned to create small ambiances and allow clients to navigate the store freely.  
The material palette consists of polished concrete tiles, glass, white painted metal and white-painted, lacquered wood for the counter area. It also combines several furniture pieces with different fabric tones and macramé.

Location: Santa Ana, Costa Rica
Project Year: 2019
Area:  253m2
Photographer: Andrés Garcia Lachner

BULALI is a restaurant and bakery located in Lindora, Costa Rica. The area is known for its sprawling residential developments, corporate centers and a diverse gastronomic scene. 

It is located on the north-west corner of the Plaza Futura commercial center. The front and lateral facades face a main road and a pedestrian walkway respectively. The posterior facade faces an internal green plaza, giving the project exterior views from all sides. 

BULALI’s brand concept unites dining, bakery and co-working. As such, the project consists of 3 separate areas that complement each other: restaurant/bakery, product display and shopping, and dining/working. The kitchen/bakery area is situated in the northern sector of the locale, with the bar and ordering desk facing towards the product display zone. Tables and seating are laid out in the terrace and in the interior facing towards a large window pane that gives clients a peek as to how the bakery operates. The south-east corner of the locale is used as a co-working area or a meeting room. 

The material palette borrows from an existing BULALI and adds new features. It mixes exposed concrete, colored tiles and wood with metal, glass and tan bricks. Brand identity is also strengthened through murals, decoration and lighting, giving BULALI it’s unique feel.

Location: Santa Ana, San José, Costa Rica 

Year: 2014
Area: 34 m2

Wö Kàpi is an artisan/organic café located in Santa Ana, Costa Rica. The project faces one of the busiest roads in Santa Ana and receives high vehicular transit during most of the day. The area is a popular leisure destination due to several other restaurants, fitness and shopping centers found on the same street, as well as offices and hotels.  
The site is surrounded by a botanical nursery. Shrubery and gravel are used to enclose the terrace area, and access and exit points are located on the front and back sides of the project.
The architecture aims to draw parallels with the artisan processes employed in the production of coffee. Natural materials such as recycled wood and reed are employed in the interiors and concrete and metal structures for exteriors. Passive climatization strategies such as natural lighting, large overhangs, cross ventilation and green walls are used to reduce overall temperatures and operational costs.

Location: Playa Avellanas, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Year: 2018
Area: 620 m2

The NMF Residence is a contemporary house that evokes and celebrates traditional architecture such as the Hacienda house in Guanacaste, one of the typical manifestations of architecture in the northwest region of Costa Rica.

Guanacaste’s vernacular architecture is a faithful reflection of knowledge and adaptation to the adverse climatic conditions of the Pacific plains of Guanacaste, a warm and dry climate under the scorching sun. This tradition is now reinterpreted to create a modern design, of geometric figures that allow the separation of environments and open internal spaces to the outdoors.

The NMF Residence is conceived and configured as a large central open space at double height, with movable glass floor-to-ceiling panels, evoking that opening that dilutes the boundaries between the interior and exterior spaces. On the sides, there are two volumes of concrete that contain this vacuum one at each end of the house; where the services are located on one side and the bedrooms on the other, all articulated in harmony by a large floating roof.

This double-height vacuum, in conjunction with the folding glass paneling, allows the space to be ventilated naturally when open. Better yet, it provides an environment that incorporates the exterior landscape into the interior of the project, fusing in a balance the external dry landscape with the comfortable and shaded area of the interior, where the breeze flows on hot days. Having incorporated the refreshing pool intentionally in front of this vacuum, these winds are cooled by it before flowing into the home. A large roof built with local material, which appears to be floating, confines this powerful space and provides shade, a thermal mattress and therefore comfort.

The result is a visually pleasing house, a radical experience of integration between interior and exterior, comfortable, where the interior is protected from the warm and sunny climate of the exterior via passive strategies, separating the most intimate spaces from the common and work areas, and allowing a harmonious balance with the environment surrounding this impressive work.

Location: Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica 
Year: 2017
Area: 164 Ha


Monte de Oración is an holistic wellness complex located in Atenas, Costa Rica. The area is mostly known for its agriculture, with coffee and sugarcane as the main crops. It also offers diverse touristic activities such as wildlife tours, hiking, sight-seeing, coffee tasting and several waterfalls.  Atenas is considered to have one the best climates in the world with average temperatures in the mid 21°C year-round.

The site consists of 164 ha or roughly 1,640,000 m2. It has an irregular topography and 76% of the area is preserved for conservation. Because of the size of the project, several large-scale aspects are considered and integrated, such as water, energy and waste management as well as agriculture, commerce, leisure, hopitality, housing and spiritual wellness. There is only one access point on the easternmost side of the terrain and several internal roads leading to each programatic cluster.

The project consists of over 35 different programatic typologies. These are organized and grouped into 4 main clusters: Spiritual health and wellness, Hospitality and residential, Arts and culture, and Retail, entertainment, workplace & convention centers. Each cluster is layed out in the terrain ranging from most public to most private. Different organizational schemes are used. These include circuits, nodes, grids, neighbourhoods, and varying circulation methods depending on the program whilst the overall project is a combination of all.

Location: Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Project Year: 2017
Area: 870 m2


Mercadito Monteverde is an urban food market located in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The area is famous for the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve, the first private area for the conservation of wildlife established in Costa Rica. It houses 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity and receives over 250,000 visitors yearly.
The site is located in the town of Santa Elena where most of Monteverde’s population lives. The only access is through the public road in the property’s south side. It adjoins a commerce building to the west and a wooded area surrounds the north and eastern edges. The terrain has a mild slope, with the lowest point situated in the main entrance.
Mercadito Monteverde is made up of 10 separate eatery spaces surrounding the main food market area. The enclosure forms a ringed pathway for costumers that separates the dining space and the shops. The roof follows the same geometry as the pathway and has a skylight in the center to fill the space with natural light. A welded mesh is placed in the ceiling from which artificial plants and lamps are hanged. Front and lateral setbacks are taken advantage of and used as outdoor plazas with seating and lounge areas.
The project combines a wide variety of materials. Metal is used for the roof, beams, columns, and handrails, and concrete for slabs and fixed seating. Corten steel and wooden panels line the exterior walls of the shops, and most of the food court rests on a stone wall basing.

Location: Santa Teresa, Puntarenas, Costa Rica 
Year: 2019
Area: 295 m2


Mendi House is a duplex block located in Santa Teresa, one of the most developed beach towns in Costa Rica’s central pacific coast. The area has become a popular destination for foreign and local visitors, making it a hotspot for tourism year-round.  

The site has a sloping topography and the only access point is located in the uppermost part of the terrain. It adjoins a residential lot in the northern side of the property and offers ocean views to the west. The surrounding area is mostly covered in vegetation with the exception of a few neighboring houses.

The project seeks to bridge the gap between interior and exterior. Compact apartment layouts are coupled with courtyards in the bathrooms, allowing natural light to fill the space and cross ventilation to occur. All apartments face west towards the ocean view and have kitchenette and dining areas in exterior spaces. These are set in overhangs for the upper level apartments and on terraces for the lower level ones.

The material palette includes painted and exposed concrete, corten steel, wooden louvers and interiors, and glass. Each duplex has a pool, exterior showers, laundry and storage areas, and separate accesses for each apartment.

Location: Rio Jiménez, Limón, Costa Rica
Year: 2017
Area: 1,184 m2 


MAR (Modulos Autosuficientes Rurales) is a proposal for a new school in Rio Jimenez, Costa Rica. Rio Jimenez is located in a remote area near the country’s Caribbean coast. It has limited access to basic public services such as education and health centers. As such, efforts have been made to increase literacy rates within the town’s population.

The project aims to replace the existing education center and double it’s capacity from 400 to 800 students. In order to maximize the building’s effect on the community, it is also designed as a flexible space with multiple programmatic possibilities. Over 20 different configurations can be layed out depending on how the space will be used, including a market place on weekends, a town hall, or an emergency shelter in case of a natural disaster.

Building materials include wood, glass paneling, movable walls, concrete and metal siding. Passive climate control strategies are utilized in order to keep interior spaces cool and naturally ventilated. The building is also equipped to operate off-grid.