Studio Saxe elevates doughnut-shaped house in Costa Rican rainforest

Costa Rican design firm Studio Saxe has used stilts to elevate part of the round courtyard house Sinfornia Verde in the rainforest of the Peninsula de Osa.

The 400-square metre (4,305-square foot) house in Carate, Costa Rica was built in a clearing in the forest canopy created by a fallen tree.

Two researchers wanted to take advantage of the sunlight and blue sky by constructing an off-the-grid home surrounded by trees.

Studio Saxe, which is based in San José, designed the house to highlight different perspectives of the rainforest.

"While the home is on a single level, the terrain around it descends steeply," the team said. "One side aligns with the forest floor, while the other is raised high above the ground."

Located near the Corcovado National Park, which hosts three per cent of the planet's biodiversity, the design team scaled the footprint back and raised the house on stilts to reduce disruption to the ground plane.

The hyperbolic shape of the roof accommodates the site's intense rain and sun, directing rainwater into natural streams down the side of the canopy.

The underside of the doughnut-shaped roof is clad in wooden slats that radiate from the centre toward the perimeter of the house.

Below the focal roof shape, the house forms a ring, elevated on pillars on one side.

The radial rooms are banded with slatted screens that allow air and the sound of the rainforest to pull through the house.

The perimeter of the house – ringed with a walkway and a delicate railing – interacts with the surroundings while the centre of the oculus forms a sanctuary to combat the density and darkness of the rainforest, the team explained.

"With the likes of jaguars and howler monkeys in the vicinity, the central courtyard offers a calm space in the midst of an untamed ecosystem," the team said.

The bedrooms are separated into a private wedge by two breezeways, while the living room and kitchen form another wedge. A small third wedge floats under the rise of the roof and holds a combined laboratory and library space.

The house falls in an earthquake and high precipitation zone and can only be accessed by a narrow footpath, so the materials were transported by rivers or over mountains and then carried to the site for construction by local contractors.

Prefabricated steel components were delivered during the dry season and assembled by hand.

Meanwhile, uniquely pitched beams were woven into a grid to form the roof and then covered with fibre cement boards and a durable membrane.

"The home is entirely self-sufficient, generating power through a photovoltaic array and a hydro turbine in a nearby stream, which also supplies drinking water," the team said.

"Energy-efficient lighting and responsibly sourced materials, such as teak and cork, further reduce the environmental impact."

After construction, the team replanted native vegetation that will grow, recapturing the house in the rainforest.

Other buildings designed in the round include a concrete spa by Soler Orozco Arquitectos and Javier Sánchez, a cross-laminated timber clubhouse by Sordo Madaleno Arquitectos and a brick community centre by Fernanda Canales, all in Mexico.

The photography is by Alvaro Fonseca, and the videography is by Danta Collective.

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