San Jose-based design practice Studio Saxe has completed its design of the Hotel Nalu-Nosara in Nosara, Costa Rica. The boutique hotel and yoga studio embrace the locale’s wellness-centric atmosphere of Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula with sustainable design techniques that blend contemporary design with local craftsmanship.
The property comprises a series of pavilions dispersed across the site with ample flora in between to ensure privacy. Each pavilion is positioned based on the area’s wind and sun patterns to maximize landscape views for all guests. Located a short walk from the ocean, accommodations are conceived as “homes” rather than guestrooms and feature living and dining rooms, as well as open kitchens clad with large glass doors that lead to private rear gardens and swimming pools. Overlapping timber roofs crafted from recycled teak planks create an uneven overhead pattern, connecting rooms via sunlit corridors.
Operating as a multifunctional fitness space, the onsite yoga studio is surrounded by lush vegetation with wood floor and ceiling installations within the exposed black metal structure. Large rear windows serve a visual connection to the nearby multipurpose gym.
“Our project at Nalu represents the power of simple, low-key, modern tropical architecture,” says Studio Saxe architect Benjamin Garcia Saxe. “It has quickly become a town favorite, which shows that there is a real desire to occupy spaces that bring people closer to nature while addressing the needs of contemporary life.”
