Casa Santa María del Oro is a lakeside residence embedded within a steep hillside in Nayarit, Mexico, overlooking the volcanic crater lake of Santa María del Oro. Designed by Mauricio Ceballos X Architects, the 250 m² dwelling integrates closely with its terrain, allowing existing trees, topography, and ecological constraints to shape its spatial and formal language. The architecture emerges as a series of carved voids within the slope, where circular openings preserve mature vegetation while introducing light, ventilation, and framed views toward the surrounding forest and water.
Casa Santa María del Oro Technical Information
- ArchitectsMauricio Ceballos X Architects
- LocationSanta María del Oro, Mexico
- Gross Area250 m2 | 2691 Sq. Ft.
- Project Years2019 – 2022
- Photographs© Rafael Gamo
The design adapts to the presence of the trees and the slope, allowing the house to emerge through subtraction rather than imposition. Architecture becomes a framework that protects the landscape and allows natural systems to remain legible within the dwelling.
– Mauricio Ceballos
Site, Landscape, and Ecological Sensitivity
Casa Santa María del Oro occupies a steep wooded hillside overlooking the volcanic lake that defines the landscape of Santa María del Oro in Nayarit. The topography encouraged an approach in which the building is embedded within the terrain rather than placed on it. From the lake and surrounding forest canopy, the house remains largely concealed, with only terraces and subtle traces of habitation visible between the trees. The architecture thus presents itself as a continuation of the hillside, minimizing visual disruption within a landscape shaped by volcanic geology and dense vegetation.
Five mature trees on the site play a determining role in the project’s organization. Instead of removing them to simplify construction, the design adopts them as fixed reference points around which the entire building is shaped. Their trunks pass through circular voids in the roof and terraces, allowing the vegetation to remain structurally and visually central to the domestic environment. In this way, the architecture accommodates existing ecological structures while allowing interior spaces to unfold in dialogue with living landscape elements.
The site’s ecological sensitivity extends beyond vegetation. The nearby crater lake represents a fragile hydrological system that is vulnerable to contamination due to its closed geological formation. The architectural response, therefore, incorporates careful management of water, waste, and runoff. Construction decisions and infrastructure systems were designed to prevent pollutants from entering the lake while preserving the environmental equilibrium of the surrounding ecosystem.
Subtractive Geometry and Landscape Integration
The house’s formal strategy relies on subtraction rather than volumetric addition. A largely concealed mass is carved with circular cuts that form courtyards, skylights, and terraces. These voids allow tree trunks to pass through the building envelope while bringing daylight and air deep into the plan. The resulting spatial configuration produces moments in which the sky, vegetation, and interior surfaces converge within controlled apertures.
This circular language recurs throughout the building. Roof openings frame vertical views toward the canopy, interior courtyards organize circulation, and a circular reflecting pool anchors the main terrace. The geometry is not applied as a decorative motif but derived from the spatial necessity of preserving each tree. Through this approach, the architectural form emerges from an interaction between built structure and natural growth patterns.
A vegetated roof further integrates the house with the hillside. Covered with local grasses and plants, the roof merges visually with the surrounding terrain when seen from above. The strategy reduces solar exposure and improves thermal performance while sustaining the illusion that the ground surface continues uninterrupted over the dwelling. The roof becomes both an environmental device and a landscape surface, reinforcing the project’s attempt to dissolve architectural boundaries within the terrain.
Spatial Organization and Interior–Exterior Continuity
The interior program is intentionally restrained. Three bedrooms, a central social area, and an expansive terrace facing the lake define the residential layout. This simplicity allows the architectural emphasis to fall on spatial atmosphere and environmental relationships. The dwelling unfolds along the slope, with communal spaces occupying the areas with the broadest views, while private rooms maintain closer relationships with courtyards and shaded garden areas.
Curved floor-to-ceiling glazing plays a central role in mediating between interior and landscape. Large glass surfaces open the living and dining areas toward the terrace and lake beyond, while also framing views of the preserved trees that pass through the roof. The curved geometry softens the transition between enclosure and exterior space and reinforces the circular logic that organizes the entire building.
Interior courtyards contribute both to environmental performance and spatial complexity. Positioned around the retained trees, they function as vertical light wells that illuminate corridors, bedrooms, and social spaces. At the same time, they promote natural ventilation by allowing air to circulate between shaded garden pockets and the open terrace. The resulting interior sequence alternates between enclosed rooms and vegetated voids, creating layered spatial relationships that maintain constant visual contact with the surrounding forest.
Material Strategies, Construction Logic, and Environmental Systems
Material selection reflects the logistical realities of building in an isolated community with limited construction infrastructure. The project employs a restrained palette that relies on locally available resources and techniques familiar to regional labor. Concrete appears primarily where required for structure and retaining walls, while exterior surfaces incorporate stone and earth-toned renders that echo the color range of the surrounding terrain.
Water management is integrated directly into the architectural framework. Rainwater is collected and filtered for reuse, while wastewater from the house is treated in biodigesters before being discharged to absorption wells. This separation between stormwater and wastewater reduces the risk of pollutants entering the crater lake. The environmental infrastructure, therefore, becomes inseparable from the architecture itself, shaping both site planning and building operation.
Interior finishes extend this dialogue with the local geological context. Volcanic stone appears in terrace surfaces and the circular pool edge, referencing the region’s geophysical history. Wood elements incorporate both new timber and repurposed pieces from construction formwork, reinforcing the continuity of material throughout the project. Tropical vegetation planted in courtyards and terraces completes the palette, allowing the dwelling to maintain a consistent relationship with the ecological and cultural landscape of Nayarit.
About Mauricio Ceballos X Architects
Mauricio Ceballos X Architects is an architecture studio known for projects that explore the relationship between built form, landscape, and environmental responsibility. The practice develops context-driven designs that respond to ecological constraints, local construction conditions, and cultural narratives. Through strategies such as material restraint, integration with existing vegetation, and passive environmental systems, the studio seeks to produce architecture that operates as a mediator between human habitation and the natural environment.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Photography: Rafael Gamo
