Dezeen Magazine

Mazul Beachfront Villas by Revolution

Revolution designs coloured concrete Mazul Beachfront Villas in Oaxaca

Mazul Beachfront Villas are a collection of holiday homes with coloured concrete facades designed to match their sandy surrounds on the coast of Oaxaca in Mexico.

The Mazul development was designed by Mexican architecture firm Revolution and features 50 private villas located in the town of Santa Elena El Tule.

Mazul Beachfront Villas are designed by Revolution
Mazul Beachfront Villas are on the Oaxacan coast

Each villa is built from a combination of smooth concrete and rough brick that mimics large stones found on the site.

"There are dozens of mega stones called chicharrón that are naturally distributed all over the site. They have a unique exterior texture as some parts are very smooth and other parts are corrugated," Revolution told Dezeen.

"This inspired us to create architecture that could adapt to the land in the same way as these stones."

Concrete is coloured like the surrounding sand
The villas are made up of both smooth and rough facades

Inexpensive load-bearing walls of smooth reinforced concrete were mixed with a pigment coloured with the tone of the location's sandy terrain.

Rougher brick walls were covered with sand mortar sourced from the site.

Revolution chose these materials not only for their congruency with the villas' location but also for their weather-resistant properties.

The villas are connected by winding pathways and areas of vegetation, as well as shared amenities including a clubhouse, beach house, restaurant and bar.

The Mazul villas are next to the sea
Vegetation surrounds the 50 villas

Modest in size, each villa has one bedroom and bathroom, a living room and a kitchen. Outside, each building has a private pool at the front that cools the wind as it passes over it, which enters the house and cools its interior.

"We created three basic volumes that interconnect with each other, the purpose being to give every space views to the ocean and create natural cross-ventilation throughout the villa," said Revolution.

"The intention was to integrate the interior with the exterior."

The project used local materials
Wind travels over private pools and cools each villa

Surrounding plants maintain each house's privacy and blend the villas with their natural setting.

"Mazul's site is a beautiful ocean-front virgin land, so we wanted to respect it as much as possible," explained Revolution.

"It is also next to Santa Elena's community, so one of the project's objectives was to work with the local contractors to build the villas and use local resources."

The villas are by Revolution
The villas are designed to bring the inside outside

Revolution is an architecture firm based in Mexico City and New York.

Other Oaxacan holiday homes that champion local materials include a sprawling beach house by Anonimous in Puerto Escondido, and a multi-tiered holiday home in Mazunte by Em-Estudio that resembles rocks tumbling down a mountain.

Photography is by Mauricio Guerrero.

More images and plans

Cross ventilation
Cross ventilation
Cross ventilation
Cross ventilation
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Cross ventilation
Cross ventilation
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Villa plans
Cross sections
Cross sections
Elevations
Elevations
Floor plans
Floor plans
Longitudinal sections
Longitudinal sections
Site plan
Site plan
Mazul Beachfront Villas
Mazul Beachfront Villas
Mazul Beachfront Villas
Mazul Beachfront Villas
Mazul Beachfront Villas
Mazul Beachfront Villas
Mazul Beachfront Villas
Mazul Beachfront Villas
Mazul Beachfront Villas
Mazul Beachfront Villas
Mazul Beachfront Villas