Nuri Villa: A Multi-Level Architectural Design Harmonizing with the Surrounding Nature
Blending Indoor and Outdoor Spaces
Nuri Villa relies on green terraces and a suspended pool as key elements to create a seamless connection between the interior and exterior areas. This integration goes beyond visual beauty; it enriches the living experience by incorporating the surrounding nature directly into daily life.
A Design that Interacts with Nature
The villa is located on a slope overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and its architecture is crafted to feel like an extension of the natural landscape. The design embraces natural light and airflow, creating a comfortable and sustainable environment. The villa’s vertical configuration allows it to adapt to the terrain while elevating everyday living and offering a sense of openness.
Different Levels, Different Experiences
The lower level is anchored by a solid base that grounds the structure, giving a feeling of stability and permanence. In contrast, the upper level opens generously to the outdoors, framing ocean views and blurring the boundaries between inside and outside. These variations between levels introduce layers of visual and functional experiences, making movement through the spaces smooth and organic.
Integrated Architectural Elements
Architectural components such as landscaped terraces and the suspended pool harmonize with the spatial transitions to create a serene balance that reflects the villa’s design philosophy. Every part of the villa feels as if it belongs to nature itself, enhancing the sense of relaxation and immersion in the surrounding environment.
Level Distribution for Optimal Views
To achieve exceptional ocean views, all social areas, terraces, and the master bedroom were placed on the villa’s second level. This arrangement allows the architecture to rise above the site’s natural terrain and open fully toward the horizon. Meanwhile, the secondary bedrooms occupy the mid-level, benefiting from sea views as well thanks to the natural slope of the land. On the lowest level, service areas and the garage are integrated to form a solid base that anchors the structure to the terrain. This strategy does not resist the topography; it embraces it, allowing the architecture to step naturally across the landscape and balance elevation with connection to the ground.
A Multi-Level Design that Responds to the Site
The narrow plot and shifting terrain posed an architectural challenge that encouraged thinking across multiple levels. A solid horizontal base was created to follow the slope and support an upper level that opens in all directions. This upper level becomes a light, transparent platform housing the social spaces, a landscaped terrace, and a suspended pool that appears to float among the treetops.
An Immersive and Open Experience
Cross ventilation, shaded openings, and unobstructed views all contribute to creating a sense of immersion within the surrounding natural environment. The transition from heavy materials, such as concrete and stone, used in the base, to lighter woods and open metal structures in the upper levels expresses openness and elevation in a smooth, visually coherent way, enhancing the connection between the building and its natural setting.
Interior Architecture: A Nest-Like Experience
Nuri Villa was named after a local word that evokes the feeling of a nest within the forest, open, personal, and full of life. Birds frequently flying through the home reflect just how openly it engages with nature. Natural ventilation was prioritized through high ceilings and long corridors, while carefully positioned openings allow the house to “breathe” naturally, maintaining comfortable temperatures throughout the day.
Blending Nature and Culture
The design highlights bold gestures and contrasts between materials and spaces. At the entrance, guests are greeted by a planted wall that marks the transition between exterior and interior. Meanwhile, the use of black-and-white mosaics in the foyer echoes traditional patterns found in Costa Rican residential architecture, reinforcing the home’s connection to local craftsmanship.
Vibrant Details
Colorful, nature-inspired accents, such as deep-blue seating that evokes the tones of the sea and sky, frame the surrounding landscape in an intentional way. Every space within the villa tells a story of nature, culture, and comfort through precise material choices and carefully crafted design experiences, turning the interior architecture into a fully immersive sensory journey.
Integrated Sustainability
The home was designed from the outset to function as a passive system with a minimal environmental footprint. Natural materials such as stone and wood help regulate temperature naturally, while carefully placed openings enable cross ventilation and control sun exposure. The surrounding vegetation also plays a role in naturally cooling the house, reducing the need for mechanical systems. In addition, solar panels provide on-site renewable energy, lowering dependence on the electrical grid and supporting a more self-sufficient lifestyle. These strategies create a comfortable, low-impact living experience that remains fully integrated with the surrounding environment.
A Hybrid and Efficient Structural System
To meet the project’s requirements and adapt to the terrain, a hybrid structural system combining concrete and steel was developed. The concrete base contains the garage, laundry room, and service areas, providing stability and anchoring the building to the slope. Above this base, a prefabricated steel structure supports the lighter volumes, allowing for open façades that face the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other.
Efficiency and Flexibility in Construction
This system enables more precise and efficient construction while simplifying transitions between different materials inside the home according to function and environmental exposure. This strategy makes the architecture not only cohesive and visually appealing but also practical and sustainable in the long term.
Client Perspective: A Personal Experience of Living in the Villa
The homeowner explains that he had always been inspired by the designs of Casa Flotanta, which guided him when searching for the right architect to create Nuri Villa. This experience highlights the importance of communication between client and architect, not just to build a house, but to collaborate in creating a space that harmonizes with nature and fulfills the needs of daily living.
The Suspended Pool: A Point of Immersion in Nature
The client describes the far edge of the suspended pool as his favorite spot in the entire villa, offering a breathtaking vantage point nearly ten meters above the ground. The experience evokes a sense of flight and freedom, while also allowing the architecture to be appreciated from a unique perspective that blends visual beauty with sensory immersion in the surrounding environment.
Architecture as a Bridge Between Human and Nature
Through the client’s experience, it becomes clear how the villa’s design fosters direct interaction between people and nature, offering uninterrupted views and integrating everyday functions with visual elegance. This vision reinforces the idea that architecture is not merely construction, but a multisensory experience that responds to its site and the needs of its inhabitants.
Indoor–Outdoor Spaces: An Open and Flexible Experience
The client notes that the large upper-level space offers a unique experience, designed to be enjoyable regardless of the weather. Cross ventilation helps maintain a comfortable temperature, while the generous space allows multiple activities to take place simultaneously, making it ideal for family gatherings or social events.
The Meaning of the Name and the Bird Symbol
The word “Nuri” comes from the Chorotega language and means “bird,” a choice that reflects respect for local culture and emphasizes connection with nature. Thanks to the villa’s design, which opens toward the treetops, birds frequently fly through the home, especially parrots, which can be seen daily. For this reason, the parrot became the villa’s symbol, blending cultural identity with the surrounding natural environment.
Integrating Nature and Culture in the Design
Through these details, it becomes clear how the villa embodies a harmonious interaction between architecture, nature, and local culture. It is not merely a place to live, but a living space that breathes with its environment, where every design element becomes both a sensory and cultural experience.
✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight
Nuri Villa can be seen as a clear example of integrating a building with natural terrain and outdoor spaces. The tiered distribution of levels takes advantage of the site’s natural slope and creates visual openness toward the ocean, while the lower level provides a solid base and structural stability. The interior design also highlights attention to cultural details and natural materials, enhancing the sense of immersion in nature and offering a well-rounded user experience.
However, the project raises some questions when viewed from a practical or operational standpoint. The heavy reliance on suspended terraces and open levels may increase long-term maintenance needs, particularly when it comes to wooden materials and metal structures exposed to the elements. Additionally, the multi-level vertical configuration, despite its visual efficiency, may present challenges for accessibility and internal circulation across different age groups, especially for children and older adults.
On the other hand, the project serves as a valuable architectural reference for studying the interaction between architecture and nature, as well as strategies for natural ventilation and the distribution of open spaces. It provides opportunities to explore how to deal with complex topography and implement sustainable design solutions, even if such a project is costly or less replicable on a broader scale.
Ultimately, Nuri Villa can be used as an analytical model for studying the integration of sustainability and environmental context in architectural design, with the understanding that some architectural solutions may require modification or simplification to become more practical in different contexts, without diminishing the project’s educational value.
