Flotanta House

Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography

FLOTANTA HOUSE

Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture

ARCHITECTS
Benjamin Garcia Saxe Architecture

BUILDER
Dante Medri

LOCATION
Puntarenas Canton, Costa Rica

CATEGORY
Houses

AREA
300.0 sqm

PROJECT YEAR
2013

PHOTOGRAPHS
Garcia Lachner photography

CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTATION
Roger Navarro

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Soki So

PROJECT COORDINATOR
Daniel Sancho

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Sotela Alfaro LTD

Flotanta House
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography

Text description provided by architect.

The Gooden-Nahome family wanted to create a home on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and they found an incredible site overlooking the ocean.

Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography

The biggest challenge we encountered was that their plot of land was predominantly comprised of a very steep slope, and the view of the ocean could only be seen from the upper-mid portion of the site.

Originally, we explored possibilities of creating large retaining walls and cutting back the soil in order to place the house, a technique typically employed for nearby buildings.

Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography

Ultimately, we decided to do the exact opposite and therefore allow the slope, the earth, the vegetation, water, and animals to flow underneath the house.

We essentially lifted the house up into the air on a series of piloti which gives the impression that it is floating above the hillside.

Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography

By doing this we saved the immense cost of creating soil retention walls around the site.

This common sense solution allowed us to create a very delicate intervention, one that allows the terrain to breathe whilst providing spectacular views out towards the ocean from the key location on the site.

Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography


Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography


Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography
Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography


Flotanta House
© Garcia Lachner photography


Flotanta House
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Flotanta House
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Flotanta House
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Flotanta House
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Flotanta House
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