House of Houses in San José, Costa Rica by YUSO

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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.

House of Houses in San José, Costa Rica by YUSO – Arq. José Antonio (Toño) Salas

April 10th, 2022 by Sumit Singhal

Article source: YUSO – Arq. José Antonio (Toño) Salas

Located in San Jose de Costa Rica, HOUSE OF HOUSES is a project developed by YUSO together with an extraordinary family: a US-American professor and single mother, her daughter and son who only live at home a few days per week as they spend the remaining time with their other mother and father, and their grandfather, who has an active and independent life.

Image Courtesy © Arq. Roberto D´Ambrosio

Architects: YUSO – Arq. José Antonio (Toño) Salas
Project: House of Houses
Location: San José, Costa Rica
Photography: Arq. Roberto D´Ambrosio
Electric design: Ing. José Manuel Incer
Structural design: Ing. Juan Carlos Cordero
Collaborators: Esteban García Hernández
Builder: YUSO
Lot area: 282 m2 (área útil 200 m2)
Construction area: 136 m2
Work budget: 58.500.000 colones/ $ 94.354
Proyect: 2020
Construction: 2021

Image Courtesy © Arq. Roberto D´Ambrosio

From the offset, the project presented a design challenge; to create a house of 136 m² of construction, in a lot of 200 m² of useful area that had to conform to the specific requirements of each of the inhabitants and reaffirm their identities. The first step was to analyze how we could distribute the spaces in a narrow and elongated lot, depending on the space program required. From this, we proposed to have internal patios to be able to ventilate and illuminate all the rooms in the best possible way which, at the same time, served to separate the nuclei for each one of the inhabitants. This way, the project was divided into three units (HOUSES): one for the grandfather, another one for the children, and one for the mother. Each of these units would be clearly differentiated and would have its own identity based on the needs of each inhabitant. In this process, the idea of a House comprised of Houses arose; the overall project remained a single house, but sub-divided into three separate units. This design offered each of the inhabitants a clearly differentiated space with both a global and individual identity without losing the connections among family members.

Image Courtesy © Arq. Roberto D´Ambrosio

At the materiality level, sustainability was the main objective. The house was modulated according to the commercial sizes of the materials used, which guaranteed that the waste on site was minimal. Materials that could be recycled or that would easily biodegrade such as wood and bamboo were also implemented for the most part. At a bioclimatic level, the house guarantees comfort to the inhabitants through the design of internal patios that allow the use of passive mitigation strategies. It also has a rainwater collection system which supplies water to the toilets in all three bathrooms and the irrigation system for the green areas.

Image Courtesy © Arq. Roberto D´Ambrosio

Image Courtesy © YUSO – Arq. José Antonio (Toño) Salas

: Image Courtesy © Arq. Roberto D´Ambrosio

: Image Courtesy © Arq. Roberto D´Ambrosio

: Image Courtesy © Arq. Roberto D´Ambrosio

: Image Courtesy © Arq. Roberto D´Ambrosio

: Image Courtesy © YUSO – Arq. José Antonio (Toño) Salas

: Image Courtesy © YUSO – Arq. José Antonio (Toño) Salas

: Image Courtesy © YUSO – Arq. José Antonio (Toño) Salas

Contact YUSO – Arq. José Antonio (Toño) Salas

Tags: Costa Rica, San Jose

Categories: House, Residential

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