Casa Kike / Gianni Botsford Architects

A few months ago i spotted this house with an amazing private library in Domus magazine, on an issue dedicated to contemporary libraries. It has a very detalied wood work. I love the bookshelves between the structure. the text from the architect, more pictures and drawings after the break.
Architects: Gianni Botsford
Location: Cahuita, Costa Rica
Client: Confidential
Budget: UK £55,000 (US $108,971)
Contractor: Lechenne Construction
Structural Engineers: Tall Engineers
Photographs: Christian Richters
By coupling indigenous techniques and materials with modern design technologies and aesthetics GBA has created this intimate double pavilion for a writer in Costa Rica.
A main studio space, with library, writing desk and grand piano, is the writer’s daytime space. The pavilion’s wooden structure, sourced from local timber, sits on a simple foundation of wooden stilts on small concrete pad foundations. Roof beams of up to 10 m long and 355 mm deep allow for an interior with no vertical columns. The mono-pitched roof elevates towards the sea shore, while the interior is through ventilated via a completely louvred glazed end façade.
Set at a short distance along a raised walkway, a second smaller pavilion mirrors the first. This contains sleeping quarters and a bathroom. Externally, the pavilions are clad in corrugated steel sheeting, another locally used construction material. The overall effect is that of a building which blends with its surroundings, both visually and environmentally.
© photographs copyright christian richters
- site plan
- ground plan
- roof plan
- elevation 01
- elevation 02











































































20 Comments to “Casa Kike / Gianni Botsford Architects” »
Is humidity a problem in that area? I’m wondering about the condition of the books in what seems like an essentially open structure…
i was thinking the same exact thing when I saw it the books. Such a beautiful house though!
I vow one day to have a study like that!
although the exteriors are too much for me. i really like the interiors. the library is beautiful and spacious.
quoting cozby: “I vow one day to have a study like that!”
Talk about ALWAYS having good reading light.
Funny structure!
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really wood use of wood
Stunning! A beautiful sculptural work that is understated externally and richly textured internally. Gianni is on top of the game.
a lucky used book store owner won this bid.
The area is really humid. This project is located in the most humid region of Costa Rica, although its closeness to the shore provides reasonable wind, so air circulation (in and out) of the house can be an answer to potentially severe humidity problems. Actually, traditional houses (19th-early 20th century)in that area are made of wood and are quite open for this reason.
[...] technologies and aesthetics. For you who like or book author and want the atmosphere of privacy, this contemporary libraries can be an option with the studio space, library, writing desk and grand piano. It’s also [...]
I usually don
[...] Casa Kike / Gianni Botsford Architects A few months ago i spotted this house with an amazing private library in Domus magazine, on an issue dedicated to contemporary libraries. It has a very detalied wood work. I love the bookshelves between the structure. the text from the architect, more pictures and drawings after the break. By coupling indigenous techniques GBA has created this intimate double pavilion for a writer in Costa Rica (read more…) [...]
[...] Wood can be a very good material when designing your future house. It can be cheap, energy efficient, and of course, look good. Herringbone Houses / Alison Brooks Architects The Herringbone Houses are two 400sqm houses and integrated landscape located in a wooded back land site overlooking the South London Bowls Club for private developer Lyford Investments. Each open-plan house is composed of two continuous planes of herringbone timber and graphite render surfaces that form walls, floors, external decking and fences. These planes interlock and fold inward at the centre of the house (read more…) CO2 Saver House / Peter Kuczia Using untreated larch wood and black fibre cement panels to optimise solar energy gain, this lake house in Poland is a pretty good example of how to be sustainable and respectful with the environment. This sustainable house - like a chameleon - blends with its surrounding area on Laka Lake in south of Poland. Colourful planks within the timber façade reflect the tones of the rural landscape (read more…) Holiday House on the Rigi / AFGH Holiday house on the Rigi, Scheidegg. The building was arranged on the periphery of the property so that the distance to the neighbouring houses was as large as posssible and so that the option of constructing another building could be left open. The concrete cellar anchors the building in the sloping terrain and houses the entrance area and the technical servicing on top of which is the wooden volume (read more…) Experimental home in Ijburg / FARO architecten bv On the Steigereiland, near Amsterdam, Netherlands, Pieter Weijnen built his own experimental wooden home. The house is painted a vibrant blue, referring to the traditional dike houses of nearby Durgerdam. Spaciousness is the keyword in this design. The ground floor consists of a roomy live-in kitchen. Entering the home, the first thing you notice is the lounge hanging from the ceiling like a floating island (read more…) Casa Kike / Gianni Botsford Architects A few months ago i spotted this house with an amazing private library in Domus magazine, on an issue dedicated to contemporary libraries. It has a very detalied wood work. I love the bookshelves between the structure. the text from the architect, more pictures and drawings after the break. By coupling indigenous techniques GBA has created this intimate double pavilion for a writer in Costa Rica (read more…) [...]
I am planning to build a small retirement/ vacation home in the same area of Costa Rica (Manzanillo). How does the owner secure the property when it is left unattended?
I’m planning to build a retirement /vacation home in the same area of Costa Rica. (Manzanillo) I’m concerned with securing theproperty when it is left unattended. How does the owner of this beautiful space keep the property secure.
Keep up this good blog;great job!
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