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.
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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The first conversation is free. Tell us about your project, your land, or just the question that brought you here.
Based at Lake Atitlán, Guatemala · English & Spanish