Architectural design studio S-AR (Stacion-Arquitectura) recently built a glamping resort on the outskirts of the city of Monterrey, Mexico. Situated in the lower region of a forested terrain in the Sierra de Santiago, Nuevo León, the project consists of a series of distinct structures that come together to form a cohesive whole.
The underlying concept revolves around fostering a sense of connection between individuals and the natural environment by creating a designated destination that seamlessly integrates various elements within a specific landscape. This design also seeks to merge the comforting aspects of architectural protection and security with the enduring power and presence of the surrounding forest.
The program is divided into a central platform of common use in a rectangular shape. It holds gathering spaces, dining and campfire, built with a concrete and stone wall, bricks, and tree bark as fillers. A multi-use room located over a preexisting firm platform from an old terrace, including the old and peculiar chimney in the salon. It is built with a combined structure of steel and wood that aligns lengthwise of the central platform as the kitchen unit is made of steel and concrete aligns wide, serving the dining room. Monolithic concrete elements make paths, seats, and steps to connect these different pieces physically and visually.
Finally, the ensemble is completed by an enigmatic concrete cube in the forest, built further than the other pieces holding the common bathrooms. The resting and living areas are a series of small cabins, each holding one room, living, bathroom, and terrace, and other minimal refugees – room with roof terrace. These are built with a mix of concrete, steel, metallic sheet, and wood.
The spaces are arranged on the hillsides of the terrain, far from the common areas with the aim of obtaining greater privacy between the trees of the wooded land. The chromatic palette of the chosen materials – gray, black, white, yellow, and red – fades and is absorbed by the prevailing colors of the forest – brown, dark green, and black. The new abstract pieces lie in the natural millenary forest. They are the first in this new place without local precedent, blending among the enormous nature and these small architectural pieces.
