The Writer’s House: Gianni Botsford’s Casa Kika

Architect Gianni Botsford and his company aim to "create an architecture of local adaptation; to climate, environment and culture". Their approach, according to their website, is to avoid falling into preconceived solutions  to design problems through a process of detailed analysis of site and brief prior to any design phase, and have experience in many sectors and at all scales – from master planning to product design. They work with an extensive range of consultants, teaching, and collaborations with architects, craftsmen and artists, to enrich the outlook of the  studio.

Situated on a beach side
plot on the Caribbean coast, Casa Kike is a house for a writer. Specifically the architect’s father.  A house designed as a retreat for him, it had to house his 16,000 book collection. In combination with his environmental sensitivities, it created a unique challenge for Botsford.

The book collection suggested the layout and interior solution. Then, indigenous techniques were combined with modern technology and design into a lightweight structure of timber covered with metal sheets and faced with glass at both ends.

The building is comprised of two parallel shaped pavilions, sitting pretty on stilts 1.2m high. In response to the tropical environment of Costa Rica with its high levels of sunlight and
rain, Botsford used detailed analysis environmental software, and the culture,
using local construction techniques and materials.

Because of this, the
roof became the main element of design. The simple parallelogram that was
developed is relative to the sun’s path, ensuring complete shading
throughout the day, yet open on the front and rear to allow sea breezes
to naturally cool the house. All trees were retained with the house
woven between them.

Of course, the building was not without its share of "trouble". Botsford’s father, as a creative person himself, felt he could make changes at his whim. Pointing out to him that the relationship of architect/client is much like the one shared between writer/editor, with the constant changes in a text, he eventually relented.

Budget £55,000
Contractor : Lechenne Construction
Structural Engineers :Tall Engineers
© Photographs copyright Christian Richters

The Write