A compact white volume gradually opens towards the Pacific landscape through a circular courtyard, a curved concrete wall and a broad roof that reduces the architecture to shelter, shade and framed views.

 

Casa Malonic in Zihuatanejo by HW Studio is a 497m² residence in Punta Garrobo, Guerrero, completed in June 2026. Surrounded by tropical vegetation and overlooking the sea, the house develops through a deliberate transition from enclosure towards openness, using a limited number of architectural elements to regulate privacy, movement and contact with the landscape.

Rather than treating the building as an autonomous object within the site, the design establishes a sequence between street, courtyard, interior and horizon. A continuous roof provides shade, while walls and voids progressively direct the body and the gaze towards the surrounding vegetation and the Pacific Ocean.

 

Shelter as an elementary condition

The conceptual starting point is the enramada, understood as a simple shelter beneath a canopy rather than as a literal reference to vernacular form.

Ground, roof and shade become the project’s fundamental elements. The architecture provides protection from rain and sun while allowing the landscape to remain continuously present around the inhabited areas.

This approach also determines the scale and openness of the main spaces. Rather than framing the horizon as a conventional view from inside a room, the organization of the house develops around its permanent presence.

 

A closed condition towards the street

From the road, Casa Malonic appears as a contained white volume accompanied by a single curved concrete wall.

Following the geometry of the street, the wall establishes a first boundary between the public approach and the private residence. Vegetation, rocks and the natural topography reinforce this protected condition, limiting direct views into the house.

The entrance sequence therefore delays the full perception of the site. The landscape is revealed gradually through movement rather than being immediately exposed from the point of arrival.

This contrast between enclosure and openness becomes one of the main organizing principles of the project.

 

A circular courtyard as a spatial void

The path leads towards a circular courtyard enclosed by white walls.

Here, the relationship with the surroundings changes. Tree canopies, sky and sunlight become visible above the perimeter, while the circular void interrupts the otherwise solid architectural mass.

The courtyard operates simultaneously as an exterior room, a source of natural light and a transitional space. The wall no longer functions simply as an enclosure, but as an edge that frames selected elements of the landscape.

Its geometry also establishes a clear sequence through the house: from the street to a protected interior condition, from there to the courtyard, and eventually towards the open horizon.

 

From enclosure to the horizon

Beyond the courtyard, the building progressively loses the compact character presented towards the street.

The architecture becomes lighter and more open until the roof emerges as the principal element defining the inhabited space. Rather than relying on a continuous envelope, the house establishes shade and protection while maintaining extensive visual contact with the landscape.

The sequence is based on a small number of spatial operations: containment, movement, subtraction and opening.

Solid elements provide privacy where required, while voids introduce light, vegetation and long views. The relationship between mass and absence becomes more important than the formal autonomy of the individual rooms.

 

Material continuity with the site

The treatment of the ground reinforces the relationship with the surrounding landscape.

Its colour and texture recall the sand of the nearby beach, extending a similar material character beneath the roof. The intention is not to reproduce the natural setting literally, but to establish continuity through colour, texture and physical experience.

White surfaces introduce a contrasting element. Their colour relates to the flowers of the nine Cacalosúchil trees surrounding the residence, creating another connection between the constructed volume and the existing vegetation.

The material palette therefore remains deliberately restrained. Ground, white walls, concrete and vegetation provide the main visual and tactile references, allowing changes in light and shadow to remain clearly perceptible throughout the day.

 

Architecture defined by mass and void

Casa Malonic is organized through the gradual transformation of a protected volume into an increasingly open relationship with the site.

The curved wall directs the approach, the circular courtyard removes part of the built mass, and the roof establishes a broad zone of shade towards the landscape. Each element performs a specific spatial role without requiring additional formal complexity.

HW Studio uses this sequence to balance privacy and openness. The house remains closed where it meets the street, becomes porous around the courtyard and finally opens towards the horizon.

The landscape is therefore not treated as a background to the architecture. It becomes the principal condition around which the residence is organized.

In Puerto Vallarta, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, Casa Tao by HW Studio is conceived around shade as both a climatic necessity and a spatial condition. The 472 m² residence draws on the memories and interests of its inhabitants, translating ideas of shelter, quiet and contemplation into a sequence of enclosed courtyards, filtered views and protected interiors.

The house occupies a neighbourhood without distant views, but directly faces a tree-lined plaza offering shade and breeze. Rather than opening frontally towards it through extensive glazing, the architecture establishes an indirect relationship with its surroundings. Carefully positioned openings allow the presence of the plaza to be perceived while limiting exposure to the intense coastal sun.

Shade as a way of inhabiting

The design emerged in part from the inhabitants’ personal histories. Growing up in Puerto Vallarta, one of the owners understood shade as an essential refuge from the heat and humidity of the Pacific climate. A later family journey to Japan introduced another set of references: spatial restraint, emptiness, carefully filtered light and a sense of stillness.

These influences are translated into an architecture of indirect relationships. The house neither withdraws completely from the city nor exposes itself fully to it. Instead, views, breezes and daylight enter through controlled openings, courtyards and transitional spaces.

The result is an environment shaped less by outward display than by the gradual experience of light and shadow.

 

 

Private spaces below, social life above

The principal programme is divided vertically. Bedrooms, the garage and service areas occupy the base of the house, while a lighter, double-height volume containing the main social spaces is raised above them.

Elevating the communal areas separates daily social life from street level and opens it towards the crowns of the surrounding trees. Air circulates around the upper volume, while elevated patios form protected outdoor rooms overlooking the neighbouring greenery.

The arrangement allows the house to engage with the plaza without relying on a conventional panoramic façade. The relationship is experienced through fragments: the movement of branches, the arrival of the breeze and the changing quality of light.

Courtyards and interior retreat

The bedrooms are organized around a courtyard, where enclosure provides privacy while preserving access to air and sky. At the entrance, a curved wall gently redirects movement, while a tree marks the transition into the house.

This inward orientation creates a sequence of spaces focused on the sky, shade and vegetation. The courtyards are therefore more than sources of natural light and ventilation; they establish the slower rhythm around which domestic life is organized.

Throughout the house, privacy is achieved through depth and indirect views rather than complete isolation.

 

 

Concrete, whiteness and filtered light

The material palette reinforces the contrast between the intensity of the exterior climate and the subdued atmosphere within. White surfaces respond sharply to the coastal sun, while exposed concrete absorbs and softens light.

Its weight gives the interiors a sense of permanence, but the changing daylight prevents the material from appearing static. Light settles across walls and surfaces, revealing subtle differences between open courtyards, shaded thresholds and more protected rooms.

The architects relate this approach to Junichirō Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows, where darkness is understood as a means of giving depth to perception rather than simply as the absence of light. In Casa Tao, shade becomes similarly active: a climatic resource, a spatial filter and the element through which the house establishes its atmosphere.

Casa Tao ultimately proposes a form of domestic life organized around attention and pause. Through its elevated patios, inward-facing courtyards and carefully controlled openings, the house creates a protected interior world while remaining connected to the air, vegetation and climate of Puerto Vallarta.

Casa Gruta is a 254m² residence in the Sisal neighbourhood of Valladolid, Mexico. Designed by Salvador Román and Adela Mortera, it approaches the house as an inhabitable sculpture. Its spatial language draws on the caves, grottos and cenotes that characterize the geology of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Rather than reproducing these formations literally, the architecture translates their atmosphere into a sequence of passages, chambers and openings. Spaces alternately contract and expand, creating different perceptions of scale as occupants move through the house.

 

 

Entering the grotto

The entrance is marked by an existing álamo tree. In local tradition, this species has been associated with the presence of underground formations. Its preservation therefore establishes both a physical and symbolic point of departure for the project.

From the tree, visitors enter an open-air vestibule before moving into the residence. According to the architects, this sequence recalls the ritualized approach to cenotes in ancient Maya culture. The entrance is treated as a gradual transition rather than a conventional doorway.

Beyond it, enclosed passages lead towards brighter rooms and open courtyards. The changing proportions establish a rhythm of compression and release. Meanwhile, controlled openings allow sunlight to enter in narrow beams or illuminate entire surfaces.

A sequence of chambers and clearings

The internal organization is inspired by underground caverns, where tunnels connect larger chambers and unexpected clearings. Casa Gruta applies this principle to domestic life. Each area has a distinct spatial character, yet remains part of a continuous route.

The residence does not reveal itself from a single viewpoint. Instead, walls, thresholds and changes in light frame partial views of the adjoining spaces. Courtyards interrupt the enclosed composition and bring vegetation, air and daylight into its centre.

This alternation between sheltered interiors and open-air voids creates a balance between introspection and contact with the exterior. The courtyards act as extensions of the rooms, while the solid architectural surfaces preserve a sense of enclosure.

 

 

Material, light and time

The restrained material palette derives from the colours and textures of the Yucatán landscape. Its earthy surfaces reinforce the impression that the house has been carved from a single mass rather than assembled from separate elements.

Light becomes an active material within this setting. It moves across the walls throughout the day, revealing their texture and altering the perceived depth of the rooms. Shadows emphasize corners, passages and curved transitions, giving the architecture a changing character over time.

The design also considers the gradual ageing of its surfaces. Instead of pursuing a pristine and unchanging finish, the residence allows weather, vegetation and everyday use to become visible. This approach strengthens the project’s relationship with the passage of time.

Casa Gruta ultimately uses the image of the grotto to question the conventional openness of the tropical residence. Its protected interiors, carefully positioned courtyards and shifting spatial proportions form a retreat that remains connected with the climate and vegetation of Valladolid.

Hidden Spa–Water Hope is a 3,000m² spa and mud-bath complex in Bãi Dài, Cam Ranh, Vietnam. Designed by IDEE Architects, the building is set low within the coastal sand dunes instead of appearing as a distinct object above them.

The architecture follows the existing terrain and gathers the program around a central water courtyard. This inward-looking arrangement responds to an exposed coastal setting shaped by intense sunlight, strong winds and initially limited vegetation. Water, planting and deep shade create a protected environment for bathing, treatment and rest.

 

 

Architecture beneath the dunes

The spa develops as a continuous curved structure around the courtyard. Its roof follows the profile of the dunes and becomes a walkable planted landscape. From higher points, the architecture recedes beneath vegetation and preserves the continuity of the surrounding topography.

Adapting the building to the natural levels also reduced the need for extensive excavation. The result is a low intervention that retains the relationship between the dune, the preserved landscape and the new program.

A mature tree that stood on the site before construction was retained. The design developed around its position, turning it into a point of orientation within the composition.

Water as an environmental core

Visitors enter through shaded passages defined by stone walls and repeated rows of timber columns. Rather than revealing the complex immediately, the circulation gradually opens towards the central courtyard.

Reflecting pools, planted islands and shaded walkways occupy its interior. The bathing areas, mud-treatment rooms and supporting wellness spaces are organized around this sheltered oasis. Consequently, the rooms maintain a close visual and environmental connection with water and vegetation.

The courtyard is more than a visual center. Its water surfaces and planting contribute to a cooler and more humid microclimate, softening the dry and exposed conditions of the dunes. Changes in shade, temperature and reflected light also shape the visitors’ movement through the complex.

 

 

Local materials and passive cooling

The restrained material palette consists primarily of locally sourced stone, timber and bamboo. Thick stone walls provide thermal mass and protect the internal spaces from direct solar exposure. Meanwhile, open corridors support cross-ventilation throughout the circulation areas.

Bamboo ceilings filter light and introduce a lighter texture above the heavier stone surfaces. Exposed concrete appears alongside the natural materials, reinforcing the contrast between solid walls and open, shaded passages.

The planted roof further limits heat gain. Rainwater collected from its sloping surfaces is reused for landscape irrigation, supporting the vegetation introduced around the courtyard and across the roof.

A landscape transformed over time

The presence of water and shade has encouraged planting to develop around the building. As a result, the formerly sparse dune landscape is gradually becoming a small oasis. The project does not treat the landscape as a decorative layer. Instead, it allows the relationship between architecture, vegetation and climate to continue evolving.