[ Gianni Botsford Architects ] Casa Kike

Architects: Gianni Botsford
Location: Cahuita, Costa Rica
Client: Confidential
Budget: UK ￡55,000 (US $108,971)
Contractor: Lechenne Construction
Structural Engineers: Tall Engineers
Photographs: Christian Richters

A few months ago i spotted this house with an amazing private library in Domus magazine, on an issue dedicated to contemporary libraries. It has a very detalied wood work. I love the bookshelves between the structure. the text from the architect, more pictures and drawings after the break.

By coupling indigenous techniques and materials with modern design technologies and aesthetics GBA has created this intimate double pavilion for a writer in Costa Rica.

A main studio space, with library, writing desk and grand piano, is the writer’s daytime space. The pavilion’s wooden structure, sourced from local timber, sits on a simple foundation of wooden stilts on small concrete pad foundations. Roof beams of up to 10 m long and 355 mm deep allow for an interior with no vertical columns. The mono-pitched roof elevates towards the sea shore, while the interior is through ventilated via a completely louvred glazed end facade.

Set at a short distance along a raised walkway, a second smaller pavilion mirrors the first. This contains sleeping quarters and a bathroom. Externally, the pavilions are clad in corrugated steel sheeting, another locally used construction material. The overall effect is that of a building which blends with its surroundings, both visually and environmentally.