The work of CO-LAB Design Office, based in Tulum, is inspired by the beauty of the Yucatan and encourages a connection between the landscape and the built environment. Zoom in on three projects.
The architecture and design firm, founded by Joana Gomes and Joshua Beck, has been developing contextual and sustainable designs for thirteen years, working directly with artisans. The workspace thus doubles as a workshop for designing and making prototypes of furniture, objects and accessories, while experimenting with various materials and techniques. Her repertoire of projects is a magnificent blend of architecture and nature.
PRIVACY AND COMFORT
Casa Areca is designed as a vacation home, nestled in a landscape of palm trees. The first floor features an open-plan kitchen, dining room and living room. These spaces open onto the outside via retractable and/or pivoting glass doors, in a geometrical play of frames where the pool and private gardens border the terrace.
On the second floor, four bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms. Reinforced concrete, polished cement and wood make up the floors, walls and ceilings, offering a palette of soft colors in contrast to the bespoke furnishings. Multiple windows maintain a constant internal coolness, while the facade, cast on a formwork of wooden strips, lets the light filter through, sketching out this journey of sun and shadow during the day.
RELAXING INTERLUDE
The Luum Zama spa is also a worthy celebration of the natural environment and space. The circular structure is composed of several rooms arranged in a radius around a central courtyard, connecting indoors and outdoors.
Each space, surrounded by glass panels, is an intimate, relaxing experience. Outdoor/indoor pools invite guests to bathe in the open air, in the middle of the jungle or within the grounds themselves. An underground hammam, made of limestone excavated and cut on site, draws on Middle Eastern style. Like the sauna, it offers a respite from everyday life.
The restaurant offers a healthy menu for body and soul. Polished cement walls and volcanic stone floors complete the theatrical ambience, which further contrasts with the lush panorama.
PLAY OF LIGHT AND SHADOW
As for Villa Petricor, it encourages us to marvel at the beauty of the moment. Its design evokes the arch, with the three bedrooms featuring curved openings that create fluid transitions between inside and outside. The open-plan living space on the first floor connects to the pool via large pivoting windows. The bedroom, living room and terrace also merge into one continuous space. A tropical garden surrounds
to promote privacy. Here again, materials (polished cement walls, terrazzo floors, earth-toned fabrics) interact with furniture and ornaments made by the architecture and design agency. As in the other two projects, the shadows cast by the vegetation extend the presence of nature throughout the spaces.
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