In this Daily: 2 Paseo Miraflores Brings a Marrakech Influence to Homes in Costa Rica
Earthworks have recently begun on 2 Paseo Miraflores, a single family home that will fit between Mercado Flats and 3 Paseo Miraflores (currently getting roofed) to complete the front row of the street. Drawing influences from the courtyard homes of Marrakech, Morocco, 2 Paseo Miraflores brings yet another unique character to Beach Town, showing another of the many ways that town’s timeless tropical traditional architecture can be adapted to create something entirely new.
2 Paseo Miraflores Brings the Style of Marrakech Courtyards to Homes in Costa Rica
The facade of 2 Paseo Miraflores offers a beautiful and architecturally complex presence to the street, a highlight to walking along the pedestrian street nearby. One particular element that stands out is the front door, conceptualized below.
Beautiful in its simplicity, adaptable to all forms of guests who visit, and overseen above by a crafted detail, the front door of this home embraces the idea that in Las Catalinas, front doors "should be of surprising shapes and sizes" and "gifts to the street".
2 Paseo Miraflores has two wings that connect around a central pool court, allowing for indoor-outdoor living and a sense that the house's heart is the green, lush courtyard. The influences here draw from the courtyard homes of Marrakech. In Marrakech, these homes have many distinct spaces that are brought together by courtyards at the center. As a result, they become an urban oasis, with shady, fresh spots to cool off in the water.
This home is the Guanacaste version of a courtyard home, evolved to adapt stylistically to town’s architectural style but also elevating the design thanks to town’s surroundings.
In Marrakech, the courtyard home turns inward to the courtyards out of necessity, escaping the hot city. Here in Guanacaste, the home opens up to the view of the Pacific Ocean and captures the breezes.
The whole home was an exercise of learning from successes of other parts of the world, cultures, and bringing those lessons here to town. Architects continue to ask “how do you bring precedent from other parts of the world and apply it in a way that suits town? How do you create something that draws from many influences, but also feels definitively of this place, not dropped down from somewhere else.”
It’s a challenge that inspires unique homes and new creations that can only exist here. This home could not be built anywhere else, and yet it is perfectly suited to this part of the world and this part of town.