Juluchuca, Mexico
Atelier Nomadic’s Bamboo Treehouse Village at Playa Viva resort is an environmentally conscious hotel dedicated to sustainability and regenerative practices and is inspired by the flattened, prismatic bodies of mobula rays that migrate past the property’s shore.
Bamboo Treehouse Village at Playa Viva has been awarded a 2022 Green Good Design Award from The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The positive impact is integral to the Playa Viva experience, which is run entirely off-grid and generates 100% of its energy from solar power.
Scattered along the Mexican coastline, the treehouses are perched on coconut palms overlooking the surf. Each treehouse is composed of a master bedroom at the front and an annex treehouse at the rear that contains the bathroom downstairs and a second bedroom/lounge upstairs.
These are developed using bioclimatic design principles to suit the natural environment: the large eaves of the roof act like a big umbrella, providing shade for the strong heat of the sun and protection from heavy rains.
The façade louvers allow for natural cross-ventilation.
The structures are mostly built from local bamboo, one of the fastest-growing renewable building materials in the world, and showcase the wide variety in which this versatile material can be used.
Strong Guadua bamboo poles were used for the main structure and roof structure, section strips were used in the façade louvers, and flattened bamboo panels form the ceiling.
Phyllostachys Aurea bamboo poles and dowels were used for the wall and façade panels in the annex building. Flooring is made of sustainably grown local Cumaru timber.
The holistic design was intended to align with the expected post-COVID travelers’ desire to stay in exciting, healthy accommodations, immersed in the natural environment.
After months of isolation and lockdowns, here, guests can be submerged and re-connect with the natural environment: listen to the sound of the waves, bath in the warm sunset tones, feel the breeze sway through the palm leaves, and taste the salt air, unmasked, as they lounge on the hammock suspended over the beach, staring at the stars.
The resort works extensively with the local community to support health and education and works year-round to restore and revitalize the surrounding land.
The design of the bamboo treehouses offered Atelier Nomadic an opportunity to develop a cutting-edge structure in a surreal location without compromising its environmental ethos.
Project: Bamboo Treehouse Village at Playa Viva
Architects: Atelier Nomadic
Lead Architects: Olav Bruin, Luca Fiammetta, and Maddalena Losindaco
Bamboo design & construction consultant: Jorg Stamm
Site Architect: Roger Martinez
Client: Playa Viva
Photographers: Christian Krantz, Kevin Steele, and Avablu
