Architects.

I recieved emails back from Luis, Sr. Fuscaldo's assistant, and Guillermo. I described my project in slightely better detail. I also sent to them a file I had created with the aims of my project, and then images that I found inspiriing, so that they could see what I was envisioning.

Here is the list from the file:

Adjectives:
• Serene,
• Balanced
• Open
• Airy
• Clean
• Uplifting proportions.
• Calming
• Compact
• Graceful

Objectives:
Environmentally friendly:
• low impact,
• energy efficient,
• use native materials, renewable or low energy materials where possible,
• use natural light, heat, air, warms, breeze, water.
o Lift the main rooms so that air can circulate underneath and add sky lights to reduce reliance on air conditioning
o Green space on top
o Solar panels
o In floor heating
o Reclaimed wood
o Bamboo
o Partially underground to take advantage of cool. Perhaps one gues bedroom on the bottom floor, leading into the garden. Completely glass on out facing side.
o Low water toilets
o Double paned glass
o Cistern or water collection
o Cross veneration
o Use of stone
o Passive cooling
 Shading
 Low mass thermal construction
 Reflective insulation
 Solar film/tinted glass
 Good roof and ceiling construction
 Casement windows. Louver windows. Cloestery windows
 Roof, and overhangs
 Low thermal mass construction unless design innovatively considers the use of high mass construction
 Raised and exposed floors to allow cooling breeze beneath.
 Hot air ventilation at ceiling level, and fans throughout.
 Plants filtering out the hot dry north east winds.
 Single room depths where possible.
 Spinaway roof ventilator
 High mass walls and floors on the interior of the building to regulate temperate.
 Insulation
 Orientation
Easy to clean and to repair:
• exposed piping,
• windows within reach for cleaning,
• resilient floors…)
• simple electrical systems.
• Concrete and wood.

Blend:
• Post modern/contemporary architecture, with Costa Rican flavor, proportions and geometry
• Raw concrete, steel glass with wood, brick and tile.
• Coexist with the native flora. Cut as few hardwood trees as possible.

Resale:
Compliment the view:
• Everything should be designed to maximize and appreciate the view. This will require at least a second story, perhaps a third.
• The spaces where people spend the most time awake should have priority to the view.
• I would like space outside as well as inside for enjoying the view. I have considered using glass for the top floor almost completely. This would not store the heat and might be the ideal building material.
• Open kitchen area, solid glass looking out into the trees, with small balncony to help clean the windows.
• Completely glass fronts facing the ocean.

Modular:
• Ability to expand the design in later years to accommodate future needs.

Impact:
• Compliment the neighbors building. (to the extent they are not themselves horrific.)
• Do not obstruct neighbors views, or minimize obstruction.

Costs:
• Efficient cost structuring where possible
• Working directly with a builder, or with an architect who is also a builder.

Requirements:
3 bedrooms (Master w. two guest).
Humidity proof study/library/office
Kitchen: one range, 4 burners, one hood, an oven, fridge, freezer. Counter prep space. I love to cook and do it almost every night. I would like to have an area where people can sit while I cook. .
Meditation room
+/- 2000 sq/ft.
Use the property with a mind to later adding a small guest house and garden.
Garage- 1 car
Security (Since I will not be a year round inhabitant.)
A stair case to get down to the beach road.

Questions:
• What materials hold up best in Costa Rica?
• Which materials are available?
• What is the quality of workmanship in the Guanacaste?
• What quality building woods and materials are native to that area?
• Earthquakes?
• Termites or insects and wood?
• Costs?
• Repair?
• Installation?
• Tornados
• Flooding and torrential downpours?
• Heat in summer and winter?
• Climate, what sort of construction is needed for this area? Hot, but dry and wet, or does the winter get cold? Do the nights get cold? What is the mean diurnal variation?
• Mold?
• Trade winds? What is the orientation of the breezes and the winds?
• What is winter like?
• Angle of the sun from summer to winter?
• Security?
• How must the slope of the plot be taken into account? How can it be made into a positive.


I cannot print the images, since Blogger will not letyou cut and paste in, but I got most of them from Dwell.com.