Eco-hotel

La Casita is a manifesto of essentialism, transforming the humble Puerto Rican Jíbaro house—an enduring symbol of cultural resilience and self-sufficiency —into a contemporary eco-hotel. This minimal dwelling is rooted in cultural memory, yet optimized for 21st-century performance. It is a study in intentional contrast, asserting that simplicity, born of historical necessity, is the purest form of sustainable innovation.

The structure rises lightly from the steep terrain on a Zero-Impact Pedestal Foundation. This strategic elevation minimizes site disturbance while granting guests Canopy Immersion, lifting the experience into the verdant valley. The architecture blurs the inside and outside, utilizing high-luminosity timber and a patinated zinc skin—low thermal mass materials crucial for tropical climates.

Passive design principles govern every detail. The layout is engineered for Optimized Passive Cross-flow, pulling cool mountain air through opposing openings, ensuring indoor natural ventilation. Deep overhangs and operable cane screens function as Integrated Solar Modulation Systems, reducing heat transmission and filtering daylight. The porch and open-air terraces are not amenities but critical thermal and social buffers, integral to climate mitigation and community gathering.

La Casita distills the typology of the minimum house to its purpose: a dwelling that is simultaneously shelter and story. Weathered wood and airy cane screens pay homage to the direct, unpretentious craftsmanship of its ancestry. Transforming a rustic emblem of the past into a high-performance bioclimatic system, La Casita stands as an architectural beacon of sustainable, modern vernacular resilience. It carries the soul of the Jíbaro archetype powerfully into the future.