Arkosis

La Garita House

La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio

LA GARITA HOUSE

Arkosis

ARCHITECTS
Arkosis

MANUFACTURERS
Hermanos Seas, Pedregal, Metalco, Amanco, H&M

COLLABORATORS
Karen Fernández, Cristian Alvarez

ELECTROMECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Stephanie Badilla

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Iván Delgado Salazar

PHOTOGRAPHY
Roberto D'Ambrosio

AREA
160.0 m2

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
La Garita, Costa Rica

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

A young couple faced with the decision to buy an apartment in the areas close to their work, that would have cost them twice as much for a third of the size of this house, were drawn towards the solution of living a little further away and being linked to the smaller population centres of La Garita and Atenas instead.

La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio

This location puts in relevance the constructive traditions of these old towns and their strong relationship with their rural and natural borders.

In this sense, the house is considered an extension of the shade of the trees that border the ravine, which also defines the limit of the terrain.

La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio

Stones, reeds and a small bridge are used as well, associated with the bodies of water of the location.

Also, ornamental clay bricks that appear in traditional houses and walls are used, in order to make a neutral facade linked to the local infrastructure, in opposition to other new houses of the residential area, which tend to compete with each other in flamboyance.

La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio

This wall is used to mitigate the elongated orientation to the east (in a village with high temperatures) indisputable by the geometry of the terrain. The wall is also separated from the house to create a mattress of air and water in between (fed by rainwater collectors).

The roof is placed on the walls as a single plane manipulated according to clear folding rules, which configures the space in its upper plane in a direct and uncomplicated manner.

La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio

The separation between the top of the walls and the ceiling is left open in a similar way to the interstitial space of the vernacular houses where the children used to play.

In this area associated with privacy, security and recreation, some spaces for personal use are created.

On the west side of the house that faces a barrier of trees, the roof is elevated in order to reveal a view of the treetops, but when necessary, reed gates are used as an organic mass that opposes the sun rays that manage to filter through the trees.

La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio

When opening these gates completely, the house is integrated with the small terrace, the patio and the ravine.

In summary, this house achieves to meet the expectations of a Costa Rican middle-class couple largely affected by the discrepancy between their aspirations and their economic capacity, creating more quality space with less material and lower costs.


La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio


La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio
La Garita House
© Roberto D´Ambrosio


La Garita House
Site Plan 
La Garita House
Section 

La Garita House
Axonometric View

Arkosis
T +506 7107 9050
Arkosis
Alajuela Province, San Ramón, Costa Rica