How do you want to feel in your vacation home? Truly good design not only looks wonderful but also creates renewing experiences and a deep connection with nature. There is no single feature in our high-end vacation home designs that create this magic. Instead, the way many elements come together results in this desirable outcome. Today, we are going to reveal a number of our strategies and look inside actual spaces that we’ve designed so that you can glimpse what is possible with our Costa Rica vacation homes design.
Many subtle elements are part of our Costa Rica vacation homes design.
When we design high-end luxury vacation home for our clients, there is no recipe or formula. Each home is a custom design and with careful consideration and attention to detail to the many variables of the site, the topography, the clients’ personality, and the vision of how the home should make them feel. To achieve this, we analyze many different elements and conditions, and together they produce the outcome that our clients are so grateful for.
1. Consideration of solar orientation and massing of the design
Though these terms may sound technical, our Casa Magayon brings them down to earth, specifically to the dramatic hillside that follows the ocean shore and against which the house nestles. We not only chose to adapt the home design to the terrain (rather than the other way around), but also, though the completed form appears simple and playful, we put a lot of thought into the way we laid out its several structures.
For example, with the main living area, kitchen, and terrace we decided on a two-story, long mass design. On the lower level, we all agreed would be the master bedroom suite. Yet this part of the site faces west. How would we ensure comfortable living? So we designed this long and narrow proportion – with the narrow side facing west.
We further protect against the sun with a porch and wide overhang. What’s more, in the hottest parts of the year, the entire mass of this main living area creates natural shading onto the outdoor level, swimming pool, and terrace. It can be 37 degrees Celsius, blazing hot. Yet you can be outside without needing to hide in a corner or cover yourself with an umbrella.
2. Blur the indoor-outdoor divisions
We love to bring the outdoors in, as well as blur the distinction between the inside and the outside. As a result, you feel a constant connection to nature from wherever you are. We created a focus on specific points on the site or within the view of Casa Magayon’s windows. Imagine – the master bathroom has two very large windows; one is right at the shower and allows the outdoor shower experience through floor-to-ceiling glass, and this can be opened to create even more connection to the ocean, which is part of the view. On the other side of the same bathroom, a picture window centered over the bathtub looks out upon a tree, perfectly centered.
Learn more about this internationally renowned architect’s design philosophy and the other three ways his designs can connect you with the natural world here: https://sarcoarchitects.com/how-you-can-feel-one-with-nature-in-our-costa-rica-vacation-homes/