Costa Rica Travel – Costa Rican practice Studio Saxe has completed a pair of timber-and-beam jungle retreats in the surfing town of Santa Teresa.
Casa Maleku is the newest of two hillside holiday homes the practice has designed in the coastal enclave for Joya Villas. The steel-framed structure – available to rent from $990 per night – spans 5,000 sq ft and is set over two levels. Its ground floor is a sweeping open-plan space, while the upper level is arranged as three staggered volumes, which peek above the surrounding tree canopy towards the ocean.
The villa joins sibling BriBri (one of our ‘holiday homes of the week’.) The two are part of ‘a new wave of contextual contemporary tropical architecture that is born from and adapts to its precise location, land contours, and climate,’ says practice principal Benjamin Garcia Saxe.
Casa Maleki’s interiors draw attention to its construction materials: steel beams and concrete walls contrast with warm wooden floors and stone tiles. Its open-plan kitchen and living room features an enormous concertina window that leads out onto the garden and private pool and helps to naturally ventilation the property.
Bedrooms fill the upper level of the Costa Rican holiday home, which is reached by a sculptural concrete and wood staircase and can sleep up to 10 people. Each room has a private balcony overlooking the pool below.
Santa Teresa is a small town in the country’s Puntarenas Province, known for its big waves and lush jungle setting.
BY BETTY WOOD, From The Spaces
