Mayan Mansion
Project Overview
This Caribbean “mansion” house was designed as a guest house for vacation rentals on the Caribbean Coast. The investors of the project would be getting space for 16 people across 8 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, a gym area, an outdoor pool with a breakfast lounge inside the pool, and garden space.
As part of the house, there is also a rooftop area for sunset drinks and a movie theatre.
Location
Playacar Phase II, Quintana Roo
Size
432m2
Project Cost
US$800,000
Rooms
8 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms
Architectural Design Inspiration
The architecture of this mansion is inspired by its location. Since it’s built in the Riviera Maya, there was a request from my clients to embed the ancient Mayan culture and architectural symbolism into the overall design.
The main facade
The main facade of the mansion has 13 windows that represent the 13 biggest Mayan cities of Mexico, where one of the windows is curved at the top as a Mayan arc. The arc itself is a symbol of the entrance to the afterlife.
Ancient people believed that after their death one is supposed to go through the arc to reach the land of the gods. It is the same way you would want to feel when you enter your own home.
The material sI used to make the facade are tiles that look and feel like wood. It is similar to the way how Mayans used to build their houses in the past.
Schematic of the main facade of the mansion
Caribbean Mansion Challenges
Adapting to changes after the initial plan was created
After the original house plan was created, the clients requested to have a motor lobby added to the already designed house. The challenge with this was that the mansion has already used up all the square meters allowed for that land and because of local regulations I was not allowed to expand the construction furthermore.
In order to fit the motor lobby, I used a construction law that says that every square meter without a roof does not count as part of the allowed space for construction, therefor I designed the motor lobby without a roof.
Blueprints
Technologies
Software used to create this project
Autocad, VRay, Google SketchUp, Photoshop