Villa Áurea by Studio Saxe
Villa Áurea lands on a Tamarindo, Costa Rica hillside with a broad, curving roof and pavilion rooms tuned to the breeze. Designed by Studio Saxe, the house leans into the site’s slope and the coastal climate, using shaded terraces and cross-ventilating corridors to keep interiors cool. It reads relaxed but deliberate, a family home shaped by ocean air and grounded construction.
Morning light pulls across a broad timber canopy as air moves through shaded walkways. The roofline traces the hill, and rooms open to long coastal views.
This is a house in Tamarindo by Studio Saxe, set on a slope and arranged as pavilions around air, shade, and topography. The core idea is simple and specific: build to the land’s contours and let the climate do the work.
Beneath the umbrella-like roof, independent rooms sit apart and breathe through ventilating corridors that open and close as seasons shift. Some program sinks into the terrain to cut mass and find coolth, while the canopy above shields glass and stone from hard sun and rain.
Trace The Contour
Approach follows the slope, not against it, so the first view arrives under shade, not glare. The curved silhouette reads as one gesture, yet the house breaks into smaller volumes that step with the ground for a quiet profile. Lowered areas tuck service and private rooms into the earth, easing heat gain and keeping the hill intact.
Make Air Move
Corridors act like lungs, admitting breeze from one side and letting it exit on the other for reliable cross-ventilation. Openings scale from narrow to wide, so air threads daily routes between sleeping rooms and social areas with minimal mechanical help. Deep eaves and shaded terraces temper solar exposure, making outdoor living as comfortable as interior rooms.
Build With The Place
Laminated timber and local stone do double duty as structure and context, setting a tactile rhythm underfoot and overhead. Pre-stressed wooden pillars and beams land lightly on the rocky substrate, an assembly chosen to minimize digging while supporting the organic roof. The result is sturdy and direct—materials read honest, joints legible, and maintenance practical in salt air.
Live In Pavilions
Pavilion rooms keep daily life easy to parse: gather under the largest span, retreat to quieter modules, circulate through breezy galleries. Bathrooms and common areas gain custom mosaic inlays developed with a local artist, adding color and a personal note without visual noise. Furniture crafted from salvaged Guanacaste and Guapinol wood grounds the rooms, with European textiles chosen for durability and touch.
Find The Cellar
Construction unearthed a stone mass that set the tone for the most intimate room, a cellar held within rock. Cool, close walls make a contrast to the open plan above, and the route down marks a shift from air and light to earth and quiet.
Evening returns to the canopy as the last heat lifts from terraces and corridors. The hill, the roof, and the air keep the rooms calm, and the house gives the breeze a path.
Photography courtesy of Studio Saxe
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