Location: Santiago, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Date of completion: January 2020
Client: Partners of Santiago Hills Villa
Area: Approx. 400 m2
Design Director: Benjamin G. Saxe
Builder: Sebastian Patenaude
Structural Engineer: Guidi Estructurales
Electromechanical Engineer: CIEM
Photography: Andres Garcia Lachner

About Studio Saxe

Benjamin Garcia Saxe set up his own practice in San Jose, Costa Rica in 2004, with the aim of exploring our relationship with the natural environment through architecture. Since then, Studio Saxe has grown into an award-winning international practice made up of a multidisciplinary team, creating buildings and spaces by blending technological innovation with handcrafted techniques to form truly sustainable designs.

Founded on the belief that buildings must connect to their landscape – whether a tropical paradise or a concrete jungle – Studio Saxe brings a global attitude to solve local problems. Ideas and techniques from around the world can be harnessed to benefit communities, both at home and abroad. Local traditions and identities are explored and developed, ensuring a process whereby we learn from the past and build for the future.

The dedicated architects and designers at Studio Saxe uncover new design solutions for every project, treating each building as an opportunity to improve methods and approaches, responding to specific places. Working alongside clients and collaborators, the studio continually seeks new forms and functions that blur the boundaries between natural habitats and inhabited space.

This is an aerial view of the modern house that has a large flat roof, a swimming pool at the side and glass walls that look at the surrounding landscape of tall trees.

This is a nighttime view of the house showcasing the warm glow of the glass walls of the house coming from the interior lights.

This is a closer look at the glass walls of the house that gives a warm glimpse of the interior sections of the house.

This is a look at the graveled walkway on the side of the house with a cover and leads to the pool area.

This is a side of the house with white pebbles on the ground that surround the tropical plants that give a dash of color to the bright exterior walls.

This is a close look at one of the tropical plants that bring color to the white exterior of the house.

This is a close look at one of the troipical shrubs of the side of the house paired with small cacti that give the area a unique aesthetic.

This is a covered walkway within the property with a clear view of the surrounding landscape.

This is the pool area with a swimming pool just a few steps from the covered patio and a few daybeds by the pool.

This is a closer look at the glass walls of the house with glimpses of the interior sections of the house the glow warmly.

This is aview of the bedroom from the vantage of the outdoor area outside its open glass doors looking into the beige walls of the interior.

The beige walls of the bedroom is complemented by the wooden barn doors that match well with the floating wooden platform bed.

This is an exterior view of the house showcasing the two bedrooms with their own box of concrete with glass doors that open to the backyard.

This is the open patio with a clear view of the swimming pool on the far side. This houses a dining area and a living room area.

This is a close look at the living room area that has a large L-shaped wooden sofa with beige cushions.

This is a close look at the dining area that has a wooden rectangular dining table paired with with chairs.

The living room area has a large wooden sofa with cushions across from a wall-mounted TV above an entertainment cabinet.

This angle shows the proximity of the dining area with the living room sofa and the kitchen island.

You can see here that the large open wall area has a clear view of the swimming pool that has an outdoor shower area at the corner.

This is a close look at the infinity edge pool that has a few day beds on the side facing the landscape.

This is a closer look at the view across from the daybeds of the pool with tall tree, shrubs and overlooking views of the sea.

This is an aerial view of the swimming pool during nighttime showcasing the ethereal glow of the pool.

This is an aerial view of the back of the house with a pool. You can also see here the unique design of the roof.

This is a farther aerial view of the house and its surrounding landscape.

This is an illustration of the house's front elevation.

This is an illustration of the house's right elevation.

This is an illustration of the house's section 1 diagram..

This is an illustration of the house's section 2 diagram..

This is an illustration of the house's master plan and site map.

This is an illustrative diagram of the house depicting the dispersion of heat.

This is an illustrative diagram of the house depicting the sections of the house.

This is an illustrative diagram of the house depicting the sections of the house and the angles wherein they face.

This is an illustrative representation of the house's first level floor plan.

Wing-like roofline houses dramatic white villa in Costa Rica jungle.

Studio Saxe was commissioned to design a villa on the hilltops of Santiago in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. The primary objective was not only to provide dwellers with a connection with its jungle surroundings but also to generate an intimate relationship with an amazing view of the shoreline which brings its dwellers back to a more profound appreciation of the natural world.

Concept

Studio Saxe decided to create a large roof that would house within a series of bedrooms and living spaces that would all be turned sideways in order to face the prominent views. Interstitial spaces within the living volumes create gaps that enhance a deeper connection to the natural surroundings whilst moving about the dwelling.

Design

Every space in the home has been angled to view the ocean, and this twist creates a geometric relationship between the roofline and the spaces that became the primary element of design that both addresses the need for large overhangs (for climate control and comfort) but also generates a literal connection between the view and every space.

This white house in the jungle acts as a canvas so that morning and sunset light reflect on its surfaces creating an array of colors that vary throughout the day. The angled surfaces also allow for the reflection of shadows and the textures of nature to play within the interstitial spaces that exist between the living spaces.

Construction

Due to the remoteness of the location and difficult access, Studio Saxe decided to create a light steel frame that could be prefabricated off-site, brought, and assembled in a fast and effective way. This not only ensured the quality of the construction in a very remote location, but it also allowed the process of construction to be very light touch and the intervention on the site to be very minimal while creating the sensation of large open spaces that bring the view in and at the same time are protected by a large roof held by steel “I” beams.

Sustainability

At Studio Saxe we believe that proper design with nature should be the first focus of sustainability and thus, this villa has been oriented properly to take advantage of predominant winds for cooling. Also, long overhangs protect from the sun and the rain in the most critical parts of the day creating comfort without the use of energy. A light touch construction method meant that the impact on the site was minimal during the implementation of the villa and the extended roofline also serves as a means to collect water and energy generation.