Casa Gavion by Colectivo MX

The design of Casa Gavione redefines modern Mexican architecture with a spacious, bright aesthetic that merges into the building’s natural surroundings. The use of interesting materials, such as the stone compositions, the large volumes and the proportions of the various elements, aims to “create emotion” in the space.

The area where Casa Gavione stands is sunny 350 days a year. It is no coincidence, then, that every room in the house looks outdoors and has its own garden or terrace. Particular emphasis has been placed on the windows, so that they create the feeling that the interior of the house is not bounded off from the outside.

The dining room and the living room seem to be a completely natural continuation of the open spaces in the garden. The ground-floor bedroom looks onto a courtyard dominated by a magnificent cactus that was already on the plot, while both bedrooms on the 1st floor have their own terrace. The 2nd-floor bedroom has a terrace with a 360-degree view of the Sea of Cortez and the hills surrounding the building.

The whole house is built around a distinctive “breathing” wall made of gabions, wire cages filled with stones. Colectivo MX took their inspiration from this element, which is commonly seen along the highways between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, changed its use and nature, and turned it into a defining feature of Casa Gavione’s architecture. Here it provides excellent insulation and protects the space from the sun, while also working as “louvers” that let the space ventilate and “cool down”.

The orientation of the house, the ventilation, the pergolas and the stone wall reduce the need for air conditioning to cope with the high temperatures. In general, the house has been designed to save energy and to be environmentally friendly. The roof is insulated with high-density foam, which also reduces the need for air conditioning. There are also solar energy systems, as well as water recycling systems.

Finally, the endless summer in the Baja region, where Casa Gavione is located, inspired the choice of materials: the stone wall, the pebbles, the sea sand, the water and the timber, all of which make you want to walk barefoot around the house.