ARCHITECTURE

Papillon Tower

6 en-suite studio apartments with a common area and pool in the jungle of Tulum

Project Overview

A Mexican project inspired by Tulum vibes designated to receive travellers from around the world, in an environment that combines nature with modern architecture.

The investor has intended the building to be used for holiday rentals hence it has 6 studio apartments with en-suite bathrooms and a kitchenette. And one common space that all guests of the boutique hotel can share.

La Valeta, Tulum, Quintana Roo, MX

232m2

US$283,000

6 studio apartments

Architectural Design Inspiration

Papillons were born from the idea of creating a space where travellers and Nomades can be in touch with nature and vibe with the Tulum atmosphere, and at the same time could find friends and share their experiences with travellers around the world.

Behind the idea

The main idea of this project is to focus on a functional space with the amenities necessary for the day-to-day, and of course where the user can find a quiet and comfortable place to work.

The design was inspired by a butterfly – the Monarch butterfly to be specific, and I choose this particular animal because of the way it lives its life and how it flies around the different areas in the world for its comfort, vulnerability and teamwork, which is what the future guests, travellers and nomads do.

This was my main goal: A space where our guests can feel at home, around people who share the same interest.

Monarch butterfly

The Design Process

Let’s start by explaining the design process and how we used it for the creation of this project.

First, we took this picture of a butterfly with its feeding on a flower, and there are 3 important elements here that will help us to define our project.

The first will be the wings, they have this relaxed and symmetric shape, the second will be the head which pops out from the rest of the body and the third will be the flower itself, that represents the place where all the butterflies catering.

So we have 3 elements in their pure shape, the main one will be the body of our building, which means the Studios-Apartments; the black one will be the head and the cyan will be our pool which is the representation of the area where all our guests will cater.

So this will be our result, we used the main stairs and the wall in front to represent the body, it is an abstract shape of the butterfly body.

The side facade

The idea of having an open space and private at the same time allows us to play with big windows and balconies with the main view to the interior garden and the Tulum jungle at the horizon.

The materials and finishing we are using, even though they are not colourful as in a butterfly, we want to keep simple and let the environment be the star. Also, we rather use clean lines on the structure of the window and also at the balcony rails.

For the pool and common area, we created a space where our guests can chill and enjoy their afternoon watching the sunset and enjoying.