This rustic concrete home in Tulum is nestled within a tropical garden
Designed by Mexican studio CO-LAB Design Office, Villa Petricor is a beautiful 300-square-meter home located on a sleek and angled property in the town of Tulum. The site is surrounded by stunning tropical vegetation and welcomes the cool prevailing winds that blow through the region. The home was designed to inculcate an intimate relationship between the residents and the natural surroundings.
Designer: CO-LAB Design Office
“Villa Petricor connects us to the natural world by providing spaces that encourage us to slow down and marvel at the beauty of the present moment,” said the local studio CO-LAB Design Office. The raw and rustic home is named after the “earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil”. Hordes of trees run through the property, with the home artfully tucked in the midst of them. The windows have been consciously placed throughout the home, to provide mesmerizing views of the surrounding trees. “Projected shadows cast by the surrounding vegetation extend the presence of nature in all the rooms of the house,” the team concluded.
The entrance of the home features a majestic brise-soleil created from concrete blocks. The screen provides little sneak peeks into the home, while maintaining a sense of privacy and security. Once you enter the home, you are welcomed by interiors marked with arched openings and cozy niches, creating a lovely indoor-outdoor connection, and a feeling of openness and fluidity within the home.The ground floor houses two bedrooms, a comfy open space to lounge about in, and a cooking and dining area. Impressive large doors lead you to a terrace, as well as a swimming pool.
In the words of CO-LAB, the interiors of the home are “sculpted and monolithic”. The upper level holds a split-level main suite with a sleeping section, lounge, bathroom, and terrace. The vaulted ceiling is one of the star features of the suite. It has also been equipped with built-in furniture such as a platform bed, and benches that are connected to the wall.
Custom finishes and pivoting windows built from rolled, stainless-steel tube frames further support the monolithic aesthetic of the home. The walls have been created from polished cement, and the floors are accentuated by terrazzo, with both featuring a mineral pigment as the color. Four skylights allow generous amounts of light to stream into the home. “The washed light on the walls and floors enhances the texture of the polished cement interiors, revealing the perfectly imperfect handwork of local artisans,” the studio said. All these smart and beautiful details further enhance the sculptural appeal of the home, creating a space that perfectly embodies both fluidity and stillness.
