Field notes from Lake Atitlán.
Notes from the practice. Project updates, observations from the work, and reflections on building well in this place. Arriving soon.
What integrated delivery looks like on the ground at Atitlán
Preconstruction, budget, schedule, logistics, and material decisions are five views of one project. Integrated delivery keeps them on one baseline and one reporting rhythm.
Natural and vernacular materials: what building local actually means structurally
Adobe, bahareque, local stone, native timber, clay tile, lime plaster, and bamboo are not compromise materials. Used correctly, they answer the lake’s structural, climatic, logistical, and craft realities.
Preconstruction: the phase most builders skip — and what it costs you when they do
Preconstruction is the cheapest place to buy clarity. Five entry points show how Atitlán Build pressure-tests cost, schedule, sourcing, logistics, and constructability before work begins.
Material logistics at 1,500m with no road access
Material logistics at Lake Atitlán is a structural cost, not a line item. Six chokepoints and four planning documents show why procurement discipline beats price every time.
Construction schedules that actually work in rural Guatemala
A U.S.-imported schedule will fail at Atitlán by month four. A real Lake Atitlán construction schedule accounts for rainy season, holidays, customs, lake logistics, and honest float.
The Schedule of Values: your single best tool for protecting your budget
The Schedule of Values is not a bill. It is a map that turns your construction budget into a tool you can audit, challenge, and trust.
Why We Build the Way We Build
Five posts. One argument: the decisions that determine a building's performance are made before construction starts. This is the close of Series 1 — what the case adds up to, and what it means for an owner about to start a project here.
Buildings That Learn: Designing for the 50-Year Horizon at Lake Atitlán
Most buildings at Lake Atitlán are a liability within ten years. The difference between a building that holds up and one that becomes a problem is not in the budget — it is in a handful of design decisions made before construction begins.
Biophilic Design at the Lake: Nature Is the System, Not the Decoration
Biophilic design is not about adding plants. It is a research-based discipline with measurable outcomes, and at Lake Atitlán the site already delivers most of what the research calls for. The question is whether your building is arranged to receive it.
Reading the Land — Site Diagnostics Before You Design Anything
A site diagnostic is not a luxury add-on for cautious clients. It is the work that has to happen before any design makes sense. The land at the lake has conditions that will either be understood before design, or discovered mid-construction at much higher cost.
Master Planning — Thinking in Phases, Building in Layers
Most people who buy land at the lake arrive with one building in mind. The mistake is treating it as the only decision to make. What you build first shapes every decision that follows.
What is Integrated Project Delivery — and why it matters at Atitlán
Most projects at the lake hire an architect, get drawings, then find a contractor. By then the decisions that most affect cost are already made. Integrated delivery puts the builder in the room while the building is still being designed.
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Based at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala · English & Spanish