Our Approach
We’re committed to building and living in a way that supports the health and biodiversity of El Bosque.
El Bosque is more than a forest. Look closely, and you’ll see a mosaic of areas that are in different stages of natural succession. These patches include areas of mature trees, younger pioneer trees, and smaller scale native plants. This diverse landscape is essential to the site’s incredible biodiversity. While the howler monkeys spend their time in the trees, the weeded open areas are crucial habitats for bees and other pollinators. As the human inhabitants of the site, we are deeply committed to integrating with El Bosque in a way that supports and enhances this beautiful network of life.
Our Catalog of Studies
At Harmony Hotel, nature has always been our inspiration and our guide. In El Bosque, we have taken years to complete careful, comprehensive analyses of the site in order to gain deeper insights of its ecology. Our studies are a labor of love, and offer us a broader understanding of opportunities to have a positive ecological and social impact at the watershed and community scale.
Community Guidelines
With this deep knowledge, we have developed comprehensive guidelines for design, construction, and living that minimize disturbance to natural systems, while fostering an environment where we can flourish together in beauty, comfort and connection to the world around us.
Guiding Principles
Use design & construction best practices that respect our unique site conditions.
Our durable, high quality infrastructure and resilient, high performance homes minimize the impact to our site during construction, and support the health of the environment.
Be mindful of water
During our dry season, there are often water shortages in the communities of our region. Our state-of-the art systems and technologies ensure we treat this precious resource with care, and respect the water needs of our neighbors.
Design for wildlife & support our connection to nature
Our home designs protect the natural habitat and essential ecosystem functions of El Bosque. We are committed to preserving and enhancing the site’s flora, fauna, soil, and natural flows.
Come together to share a good life
We embrace a shared sense of responsibility for upholding the vision of El Bosque. Our community guidelines reflect the values of our community, and provide an outline for how we will live together in this special place.
Architects & Collaborators
From the beginning, we have been working with people who understand that El Bosque is not a typical residential development project, and are invested in creating something unique and special, even when that means the process is more difficult and time consuming. We built a team with a diverse set of skills, combined with deep experience in the dry tropics. From this, we have developed site and home designs that are truly extraordinary.
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“Olson Kundig is a collaborative design practice whose work is grounded in the integration of natural and built environments. The homes of El Bosque reflect a custom response to the surrounding landscape and existing ecosystems of Nosara, creating authentic connections between people and place. Olson Kundig’s approach to each home combines natural intuition honed through decades of experience with a deep study of sustainability and high design that responds to the unique conditions of El Bosque. With strategic siting, natural materials, and sensitivity to water, vegetation, and wildlife, the architecture of El Bosque embraces a regenerative future for Nosara and frames a community in harmony with the natural world. “
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“At Gensler we strive to create places where people cultivate a meaningful life, through a culture of community, renewal and optimism. Leveraging the power of design to improve the human experience is our mission and the highest calling of our work. Every Gensler office has grown organically from strong local roots while drawing on global expertise and resources of our “one-firm firm” ecosystem. We are actively engaged in our commitment to the people and communities we serve, using design to solve the world’s most complex problems.
Our approach to El Bosque is a delicate dance with nature, tuned to the forest's rhythmic transitions. Utilizing a modular design, our prefabricated solutions ensure a minimal footprint, allowing residences to nestle discreetly amidst the foliage. Meticulous climate analysis tailors each proposal to the local weather, ensuring a harmonious interaction between dwelling and the natural setting. It's about orchestrating a low-key, intimate dialogue where the subtle beauty of the forest becomes the essence of home.”
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Taller Frida Escobedo (Frida Escobedo Studio) is a Mexico-city based studio centered around the talented architect and artist, Frida Escobedo. After award winning residential and hospitality design work in her native Mexico, Frida’s studio became an international studio in 2018, when she received the prestigious appointment to design the annual Serpentine Pavilion in London’s Kensington Gardens. More recently, she was appointed the architect to design the new Contemporary Wing for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
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“A community within a community.
Three of my biggest passions are helping people to create community, treehouses, and living in balance with nature. The opportunity to collaborate with the team at El Bosque culminates a lifelong dream by bringing all three of these together. In one project.
Our firm’s involvement with El Bosque began with assisting with the creation of the CC&Rs, Design Guidelines and Home Programs. We then expanded into guiding the other architecture firms in implementing and modifying the Guidelines while they created specific home designs.
In our next phase, we moved into designing the Treehouse Village. This has been an opportunity to put a real test to the Guidelines and Programs that we helped to create. What fun!”
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Our friends at VIDA led the new master plan process for El Bosque, which began with a deep site analysis that identified opportunities to contribute to the regeneration of the watershed as well as the site itself. Technical analysis (slope, views, tree cover, etc.) was complemented with metaphysical analysis (which areas on site promote “contemplation”) to contribute to the creation of the Bosque masterplan. In addition to shaping the Bosque masterplan, the VIDA team provided landscape design services for the infrastructure layout.
Based in Costa Rica, VIDA is an international landscape design and masterplanning firm that brings a deep sense of place to their design and masterplan work.