CASA ARAMARA

PENINSULA PAPAGAYO, GUANACASTE, COSTA RICA

Architecture and Construction by SARCO Architects Costa Rica

Casa Aramara is a tropical modern residence, designed to work seamlessly with a very difficult terrain and to maximize a casual lifestyle in a home with a focus on transparency, blurring the boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces. The home features clean, simple lines, a focus on use of natural materials for feature exterior surfaces.

From the start of the design we knew that given the land's unique characteristics we wanted to land to speak by itself and let it dictate how the design and layout of the house would be done. Placement of structures would work in hand with the natural contours and we wanted to build

the home with minimal intervention and excavation to the land.

The biggest challenge on the design was posed by the undulating characteristic of the terrain, which combined by the restriction of the location of the building envelope lines, made it quite difficult to have a flow between spaces at the same level. The design was broken up into several modules, and we developed methods to connect and create a flow between those modules, with the modules placed at different levels to work with the undulating terrain and changing elevations.

A a central module houses the main social spaces and some of the guest sleeping quarters. This main module has an up-down flow where the main entrance of the home and the main social

areas are located on the upper level, with sleeping areas below. The outdoor areas and

swimming pool serve as a transition area to the other bedrooms module, which is accessed from the lower level and flow upwards to the master bedroom, which is located at the uppermost point of the entire home.

The different modules are placed in an arrangement that finds a balance between the ideal placement, maximization of views, ensuring the sub-structure does not become excessively tall, and ensuring the overall design stays within the maximum building height restriction. The modules are arranged in an west-east direction, and they rotate around in order to work with the natural shape of the terrain, which also adds interest to provide slightly different view characteristics from each area.

The modules solution also provides “scalability” to the usage of the home, and provides a solution to the extremely steep slopes and complex site. The connection through the open covered outdoor areas and the swimming pool further provides the home with an open, airy,

"jungle feel". The home provides a casual, easy to live with tropical beach home that provides multiple spaces to use for different objectives, from private time and relaxing, to enjoying with family and friends.

As the home adapts to the land, the dramatic slope is best understood by realising that the home’s roof at the main social module will be hardly seen above the level of the road that passes behind the property.

Overall, the design intent was to use materials, finishes and colors that were either natural, or were inspired on the natural tones from the surrounding colors in nature around the home. Our focus was to create a design where the visual impact of the home was minimised, and that through the use of tones and materials, the home would integrate with its surroundings.

Our design philosophy of the independent modules reduces the air conditioning needs by 25% compared to other home designs, since most circulation and corridor spaces are outdoor areas.

All structures feature extensive roof overhangs to ensure a significant reduction in the solar heat gain in the interior spaces, combined with the vertical wood screens that not only provide privacy but also reduce the solar heat gain at certain times of the year.

SARCO Architects Costa Rica www.sarcoarchitects.com