Architecture studio Main Office has renovated a 1980s seaside holiday village with traditional thatch roofs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Sayulita, Mexico.
Called Villa Pelícanos, the 20-guest holiday complex sits on a sloping site where the tropical forest meets the Mexican west coast and has access to a private beach.
Main Office, a practice based in Mexico and Sweden, redesigned the eight villas along with the hilltop communal space and swimming pool.
Thatched villas have private outdoor shower or bathtub nesting amongst the rocks and plant fronds.
A platform for practising yoga shaped like a half-moon sits further down the hill, surrounded by jungle. Cut into the hillside, the yoga space has a retaining wall made from local stone and a cumaru wood floor.
"A series of small private spaces blur the usual boundaries between inside and outside," said Main Office founders Dante Borgo and Isabella Eriksson.
"Villa Pelícanos creates a unique experience with the natural setting while maintaining a cosy, homey feeling."
The villas' traditional palapa roofs have been re-thatched with palm leaves and the original doors and windows have been restored.
Concrete beds, sinks and outdoor bathtubs were cast in situ, and a new terrazzo floor laid.
Mexican parota wood was chosen for interior elements such as furniture, room dividers and wardrobe doors. As well as being a local and low carbon option, parota wood is resistant to humidity and salinity – a durable choice for the seaside location.
Walls are painted white to create a bright, blank backdrop to the concrete and wood.
Bathrooms and bedrooms open on to outdoor terraces and gauzy white curtains hang from the wooden rails of four-poster beds.
The architects married Mexican materials and aesthetics with South African elements, in a nod to the owner of Villa Pelícanos' heritage.
Main Office was founded by Dante Borge and Isabella Eriksson and has offices in Gothenburg and Guadalajara. The practice previously renovated and extended a house in Sayulita using dark wood and concrete.
Architecture studio Palma also used traditional palapa roofs for a holiday home with a yoga and meditation space on Mexico's west coast.
Photography is by Rafael Gamo.
Project credits:
Architect: Main Office
Project team: Angie Guzmán, Paulina Castro, Mave Zurita, Luis Gordian, Brenda Cibrian, Pablo Alemán
Contractor: Terraza Construcciones
Furniture design: Main Office
Client: Private