THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY HAS BEEN DAMAGING COSTA RICA´S COASTS FOR YEARS BY IMPORTING INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURE STYLES THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. ZAFIRO BOUTIQUE HOTEL WAS ENVISIONED AS A LOW IMPACT HOTEL THAT RESPECTS ITS NATURAL CONTEXT. OBSERVATION TRAILS ALONG THE MANGROVES CREATE A HARMONIOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE HOTEL’S SUSTAINABILITY APPROACH. ALL STRUCTURES ARE FLOATING ABOVE GROUND LEVEL TO LET WATER FLOW FREELY ALONG THE SITE. ANTIREFLECTIVE MATERIALS AND LOW WAVE-LENGTH INDIRECT ILLUMINATION MINIMIZE THE IMPACT ON THE NATURAL BEHAVIOUR OF THE NESTING TURTLES. NATURAL VENTILATION AND ILLUMINATION INSPIRED THE SPATIAL CONCEPT OF THE PRIVATE-COMFORTABLE VILLAS WHICH HAVE ACCESS TO ALL THE INFRASTRUCTURE THROUGH NATURAL TRAILS THAT ALSO LEAD TO THE BEACHFRONT.
< TYPE OF PROJECT > BOUTIQUE HOTEL
< LOCATIONT > JUNQUILLAL BEACH, GUANACASTE
< YEAR > 2007-2009
< STATUS > CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS
< LSD PARTNERS > RODOLFO TINOCO AND LUIS MAURICIO SOLIS
< LSD TEAM > ADOLFO FUENTES, JUAN VOLIO
< COLABORATORS > GUIDI ESTRUCTURALES, ING. ALBERTO BONILLA