Bromelia Shelter / [Plup!] Studio Costa Rica

Bromelia Shelter / [Plup!] Studio Costa Rica

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Text description provided by the architects. Within one of the few small forest residues that remain on the slopes of the Barva Volcano, is Bromelia, a family project devised by one of our friends to house his family.

The concept of the project is born from the place, from an epiphyte known as Bromeliad of the Bromeliad family. They live on logs or rocks that function as hosts and their tank-like shape, allows them to capture matter and water for their vital functioning. The area is an area that presents rain or at least constant spray during the year, with an average temperature of 17C and high humidity. In the property, we wanted to refer to Bromeliad as a concept associated with the place but rejected some of its characteristics. The architectural building instead of storing matter and water seeks to reject it to generate shelter and comfort.

A simple and low-cost structure generates space from two planes that function as a wall and ceiling at the same time, allowing a quick evacuation of water and any other element that comes off. As well as bromeliad, the project rests on two concrete service cores that are the ones that structure and from which it is suspended. This allows the natural runoff water from the ground to continue its way as it always has. In addition, it allows correct ventilation of the mezzanines that help the control of the humidity, this is coupled with controlled cross ventilation and a skylight that in addition to marking the time, allows the entry of light and certain heat.

The use of low-maintenance materials will allow the project to mature in conjunction with its context and that some elements are eventually lost in the forest participating in its ecosystem as it retakes its space slowly true time.