villa in Santa María Del Oro

The project in question is a residence near the town of Santa María del Oro on the slopes around the volcanic crater lake of the same name located in the hinterland of Mexico’s Nayarit state. The picturesque location speaks of its ancient geological history as part of the important mountainous chains known as the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Not just a backdrop to the architecture, the landscape is rather the driving force behind it, the design being created around five ancient trees on the site. Today, they stand like “protective guardians”, says designer Mauricio Ceballos, who also acknowledges a debt to Lina Bo Bardi and her Coati Restaurant in Salvador de Bahia, and Glass House in Sâo Paulo.

Circular shapes were subtracted from the residence to make way for the imposing Guanacaste trees (Enterolobium cyclocarpum), making them an integral part of the building. The round apertures in the floor slabs of the two levels leave the trees unscathed, allowing occupants close contact with the trunks at different heights, even with their leafy canopy. The design is a series of sinuous shapes that expand the interiors out towards the lake but also take the exterior into its ample curves. These organic shapes set up a fluctuating movement of expansion and contraction through the house, whose ample glazed façades look out towards the lake.

The challenges of the site were not limited to preserving five ancient trees, however, but also included a steeply sloping plot and the fragile ecosystem of a volcanic crater lake. Meticulous planning and forethought were therefore required at every step to avoid disrupting an already delicate natural equilibrium.

Mauricio Ceballos aimed for a design with built-in sustainability, by maximizing efficiency and longevity. Carbon emissions were cut mainly by reducing the use of concrete and instead choosing walls in local stone alongside brick partitions, steel...

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