Completed in 2018, the DSA Development dwellings by COA arquitectura are beautifully nestled within the forested mountain landscape of Tapalpa, Mexico. This intimate stone structure harmoniously integrates with its natural surroundings, offering residents a serene escape from the hustle and bustle of urban life.
Located in the picturesque region of Jalisco, the dwellings are accessible via a winding dirt road that ascends through the woods, further enhancing the sense of seclusion and connection to nature. COA arquitectura’s thoughtful design approach ensures that the DSA Development dwellings not only provide a comfortable and contemporary living experience but also pay homage to the area’s rich cultural and architectural heritage.
DSA Development Dwellings Technical Information
- Architects1&2: COA arquitectura
- Construction: Fabrica
- Location: Tapalpa, Jalisco, Mexico
- Topics: Natural Stone, Mexican Houses, Vernacular Architecture
- Area: 667 m2
- Project Year: 2015 – 2018
- Photographs: © César Béjar Studio, © Francisco Gutiérrez
Downhill, you can see between the trees four volumes and some chimneys, two cabins that together form a village.
– COA architects
DSA Development Dwellings Photographs
Text by the Architects
Pines and some oak trees narrow the views and enclose a few openings in the land. At the entrance of the property, the gate and a small cabin with a warehouse are located. You can see downhill between the trees, four volumes, and some chimneys, two cabins that together form a village.
Stone, concrete, metal, and wood play to merge with the environment; unconcerned, they accept the sun and rain, the mud and time. It is a place for rest, coexistence, and recreation.
In a continuum with vernacular construction, sloping roofs, eaves, mezzanines, small windows, vestibules, and porticoes seek to respond to the same thing, reinterpreting them.
The program is divided into two: the public area and the night area, united by a “bridge” that at the same time narrows the passage and directs the visuals into the forest. As if the trees were exerting some inflection, the volumes rotate subtly, searching for visuals and orientations to the different spaces inside and contrast with a shattered silhouette the vertical framework of the context.
The design team curates its DSA dwellings with a palette of stone, concrete, metal and wood to visually integrate into the environment. The volumes are realized as a reinterpreted continuation of vernacular construction with sloping roofs, eaves, mezzanines, and small punch windows.
The cabins are shelter, seeking to transmit it from the entrance, space narrows to welcome and expands into the living room. Scale changes continue both in the different spaces as well as in the inner path enriching the experience.
Finally, some fireplaces between the trees, an echo of those walls, confirm that the cabins want to engage with the forest and be able to inhabit it by stacking stones.
DSA Development Dwellings Plans
Dwellings DSA Development Image Gallery
About COA arquitectura
COA arquitectura is a Mexican architecture firm based in Guadalajara. The studio approaches architecture as a craft connected to tradition and works in constant experimentation with materials and construction techniques.
Other works from COA arquitectura
- Collaborators: Arq. Diana Quiroz Chávez, Arq. Adriana Osuna Maciel, Arq. Leonardo Jiménez, Arq. Samuel Camacho, Arq. Yael Peñuñuri E., Mtro. Israel González A.
- Structural engineering: CEROMOTION, Ing. Juan Jesús Aguirre
