Design
The best architecture firms in Costa Rica for foreign buyers, Studio Saxe, Salagnac, SARCO, Studio Octava, Zurcher and more. Who to hire and why, from someone who knows the market.
Design
A 90-square-meter house with a beautiful terrace, good ceiling height, and quality finishes will make you happier than a 130-square-meter house where every room was shrunk to fit the program.
Construction
I am not anti-container. I am anti-container when the motivation is saving money, because the savings are smaller than expected and the compromises are significant.
Design
The roof is the most important element of a house in Costa Rica and the one most people spend the least time thinking about.
Construction
Steel frame and concrete block are not better or worse than each other. They are different tools for different situations.
Design
Good tropical design is not a style. It is a set of decisions about orientation, ventilation, shading, and materials that determine whether your house works with the climate or fights it every day.
Construction
You can find an architect in Costa Rica who will do your plans for $5,000. You can also find one who will charge $150,000. The difference in what those drawings produce is enormous.
Design
An architect's honest guide to prefab homes in Costa Rica — real costs, permit reality, and why the 'prefab is cheaper' myth does not survive contact with scope.