Espacio18 Arquitectura’s Villa Cava Brings Users Closer to Nature with Cave-Inspired Design
Exposure to nature can be beneficial to a person’s mental and emotional wellbeing. Many architects and designers today integrate more natural elements to the built environment to bring users closer to nature. Espacio18 Arquitectura, for instance, has designed a villa that blends nature seamlessly to provide a relaxing retreat for users.
Situated in the heart of the Mayan jungle in Aldea Zamá, Tulum, Villa Cava combines luxury with nature. The inspiration came from the magical Cenote Suytun in Yucatan which captured the hearts of the clients. They decided to create a home that embodies the natural beauty and spatial quality of the region.
Villa Cava is a sensory experience, offering a unique and unforgettable stay for guests. The project was created with the intention of bringing people together in a space that offers rest, inspiration, and personal growth. The architectural concept of the villa is inspired by a cave with natural overhead lighting provided by a glass-bottom pool. The luxury is given through nature, providing a connection with the surrounding environment.
The architect carefully designed the house to blend in with the existing landscape. The construction regulations and existing trees influenced the outline of the house, while the jungle views were considered to ensure complete privacy. The brutalist-inspired fortress is made of raw wood-formed concrete, which is slowly uncovered to reveal itself as a carved sculpture. The materials were selected to harmonize with the immediate context, considering the humid and rainy climate, as well as the potential for hurricanes.
Kayla Pongrac created the interior design of Villa Cava, which is a sight to behold. It transforms the project into a highly livable, hospitality-grade home. The house is a habitable sculpture, discovered through a concrete portal built around two existing mature trees that leads to the lobby area. A pool illuminates this area from above, providing a warm welcome with the effects of water and light on the walls.
The ground floor is composed of a study, an open-concept chef’s kitchen, and a large social area that opens directly into a swim-up pool. The spaces are meant to be explored in a multi-sensory way, with height changes compressing the user before opening to reveal different areas. The upper floor is the private area, with bedrooms and a master with towering 30 ft ceilings and carefully placed skylights that drape the room in natural light. The 20 ft by 20 ft single pane square window creates a natural “living painting” with unobstructed jungle views.
A second private outdoor seating area is created on the rooftop, taking full advantage of the stunning views of the front jungle reserve. Villa Cava offers a space where people from different parts of the world can come together to live and socialize or remain independent in the different spaces created in the project.
The house is the result of the collaboration of talented people, including a local firm that created the landscaping, contractors, local artisans, and many others who made this project possible. Every fixture, brick, window, and appliance was sourced from Mexico, giving the house a true sense of place.
Photography by César Béjar
