This residence designed by SARCO Architects and located in the Peninsula Papagayo luxury resort in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, was penned by its owner to have an “Earthy Contemporary” architectural style. The home was designed in a lot overlooking the sixteenth hole of the Four Seasons Arnold Palmer Signature Golf Course. The design was thought to maximize the view to the golf course fairway down below, and to also take advantage of multiple existing trees around the home and give the home an exotic tree house feeling. We used a combination of large glazed surfaces for transparency, exposed steel structure, with wood and natural stone accents, to achieve a modern design with a natural feeling.

The design allows for enjoyment of living and enjoy outdoor areas. The orientation of the house and the arrangement of the volumes was designed to provide natural shading from the afternoon sun, provided by the mass of the master bedroom structure above. The outdoor spaces remain fresh and breezy every afternoon, as they are never hit by the blazing afternoon sun. The central social area consists of a double height space with tall windows of more than 6 meters high. In a similar fashion, the completely glazed social area is protected from the sun by the mass of the second floor bedrooms, helping to keep energy costs down by reducing to a minimum the solar gain in these glazed areas. This living space is therefore only exposed to the mornin...