Expecting a slightly cooler day today, with inviting warm ocean water up around 83 degrees and a low tide right around midday. Could be a great day to swim to the floating platform just off Playa Danta. It’s definitely a change of perspective to see Las Catalinas from the water, and it never quite seems to look like you’d expect it to.
One new structure you can see from either the land or the water is the tower of Casa Encantada, which is getting close to being finished. I took some time this week to talk to Sara Bega, one of Las Catalinas’s town architects, about the first tower house in Beach Town South, and she had this to say:
“Towers are a classic building type that many town planners employ to punctuate a street, adding a rhythm and a range to the roof lines. In traditional towns, civic towers are some of the highest buildings, identifiable from a far distance, helping to navigate and orient a citizen or visitor walking along the street. Residential towers originally served to aid in defense. A home could be more easily secured if invaders were spotted from a far distance. They had to rise up at least one story above neighboring roofs in order to provide long views crucial to security. As battle defense became less necessary, residential towers evolved to reflect the desire for a well-ventilated habitable area up above frenetic city life.
(All photos were taken some days back by Diana Cascante from Construction team, thank you Diana!)
Tower tops became belvederes (from Italian for “fair view”). Typically compact in footprint, belvederes are covered rooftop spaces with scenic views often in multiple directions. They are truly delightful outdoor rooms that offer a special perspective on the surroundings – observation towers to see and be seen. In towns with multiple belvederes, the social fabric of the street can climb up to the rooftops.
In Las Catalinas, all buildings serve the public realm as much as they do the private realm. Homes in town are private retreats, yet they provide gifts to the street in surprising ways. Unique front doors animate a walk at eye level, small openings into gardens provide a sense of wonder, and deep overhangs offer cover and shade. Tower houses participate on a civic level by aiding in navigation, orientation, and balance.
A special characteristic of the Beach Town South neighborhood master plan is that we’ve designated a tower house for each street. Calle Cartagena is a long street by Las Catalinas standards. An important spine for the neighborhood, it bends as it slopes down to the beach. A tower house frames the view to the ocean while also signaling the turn of the Calle Cartagena. On Calle Virginia, most downhill homes are regulated as only one story above the street in order to protect views for the uphill homes. By meeting the height of the uphill side homes, a tower house re-centers Calle Virginia so it is not lopsided.
The first tower house for Beach Town South has reached its peak of construction! 10 Calle Virginia, or Casa Encantada, was designed by Michael G. Imber Architects. The tower requirement was embraced completely and MGIA has delivered a stunning belvedere for a modern tropical hilltown. Robust, sculptural corner columns are contrasted by delicate round wood columns which support a light roof structure. The tower is dramatic and classic and a very exciting first built example of the tower houses of the neighborhood.
The tower house for Calle Cartagena is 9 Calle Cartagena. We are nearing construction on that home, and since it was designed by Ricardo Arosemena, we know it will be pretty much perfect.”
A big thank you to Sara for her part in making Las Catalinas beautiful, and we are very much looking forward to seeing Casa Encantada finished!
Colin