166 Designing and building a home in Costa Rica, Things you MUST consider

[Richard Bexon]
Okay. Good afternoon, Juan Diego. How are you doing?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Great. How are you, Richard? Very, very good.

[Richard Bexon]
I appreciate you joining us here on the podcast to talk about all things design and architecture here in Costa Rica.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Yeah, great. Really excited to be here, And thank you for the opportunity.

[Richard Bexon]
Not at all. Not at all.

It's always great to see, uh, I would say young dynamic people, uh, you know, with their businesses as they start to grow and kind of getting their, their, I suppose their message out there of who they are, and see if we can, put you in front of a few more people.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Oh, that's, that's great, man. Yeah.

[Richard Bexon]
Awesome. Well, my first question I always like to ask Juan Diego is just get an idea of kind of what you're seeing on your side. I mean, you know, post pandemic things were a little crazy now, you know, world economies are somewhat stalled, you know, there's been talk of a recession.

I know that some countries in Europe are in recession, but I mean, how has that impacted your workload? Are you on an upward trend? Is it pretty steady?

Have you seen a little bit of a decline? What are you seeing?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Well, actually, yeah, I mean, 2020 was a really difficult year for everyone. Uh, and on my side, uh, I had a lot of projects, uh, during 2019 and during, uh, the first part of 2020, we got canceled pause. So we had some, some projects that, uh, get us through the year and, uh, during 2021 and 2020, you too, sorry.

Uh, we had a lot of new projects. I think that, uh, people felt like Costa Rica was a good place to live and to invest in. And, um, yeah, during this year, uh, it's basically, uh, really similar to the last year, but the difference is that, I mean, we have a lot of projects, uh, compared to last year, maybe not the same amount of projects in volume, but we have bigger projects this year.

So yeah, we still have a lot of work. Uh, our team has doubled, uh, since 2020. So that's, I mean, that's great news for us.

And yeah, this year has been, uh, we have been working a lot. Uh, and as I mentioned, bigger projects, more difficult projects, but as well, you know, we're really excited to, to, uh, to design new projects, different programs and stuff.

[Richard Bexon]
If you were to predict what's going to happen in 2024 for your business, how would you compare it to the last couple of years? Do you think you will see a bit of a slow down? Do you think that it's, you know, you're going to pick up?

I mean, if you were to predict how many projects, like the volume of projects that you'll be having in 2024, what do you think that it's going to look like?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Well, personally, I believe that there's been a lot of growing, uh, in the real estate market during these years. So probably I would say that it will slow down, but again, you never know, uh, Guanacaste and Punta Arenas, it's really different from San Jose. Yeah.

So, yeah, I believe that the investments will keep going on the coast area of Costa Rica and I've heard from a lot of colleagues and friends that they're going to be, uh, big projects, especially in Guanacaste, like big developments. And those projects will take, I don't know, from five to 10 years to be built. So, I mean, if, if I see it, uh, from that point of view, I believe that we're going to have a lot of, uh, projects as well during the next few years.

[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. It's going to be interesting what the next few years holds for Costa Rica. You know, I mean, it's kind of going against everything, you know, when, when we see, you know, rampant inflation in other countries and interest rates rising, we're hearing Costa Rica inflation is somewhat under control, lowering interest rates, you know, the Costa Rican Cologne gaining, like it's kind of, it's its own like garden of Eden, you know, compared to the rest of the world.

And that's where I get a little bit confused when I'm like, okay, what's the future going to look like when we have all of this money pouring into this country, you know, of like Costa Rica just seems to be bucking the trend that we typically have here. So like, it could go completely the other way, like where there is a slowdown elsewhere because we could continue, you know, especially as people aren't looking at Asia, they aren't looking so much at Europe, you know, everything kind of comes down South and Costa Rica is just really that island out there.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

It's really interesting, you know, that now that you mentioned that Cologne, I mean, uh, from one year, it's been like completely different, uh, currency, you know, for me at least. Yeah.

[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. Because I mean, look, I mean, we may earn in dollars, but we have to buy stuff in colones. So, you know, where, you know, a year ago, the dollar bought, you know, nearly 600 colones, you know, actually it was up at 680 if I'm correct.

Yeah. Almost 700. Yeah.

You know, today we're at 540, which is just unheard of. I've never seen that swing before. Yeah.

It's crazy. In one year only. Exactly.

Well, let's jump into design a little bit. Um, you know, and, and, and just what are some of the mistakes that you think that people make or that you've seen when designing a home in Costa Rica?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Well, I believe that designing a home in Costa Rica, it's really different from any part in the world. And, uh, I would say that not considering the context is like the first mistake that people tend to do, uh, meaning topography, sunlight, rainwater, uh, drainage, uh, what else, you know, views and stuff like that. I mean, it's really important to adapt the architecture to the context and not the other way around.

I believe that that would be like the first thing that, uh, people tend to, you know, to make mistakes in, uh, we in, in Studio Anonimo, we believe in, uh, it's like our motto, which means embrace context. So that's like the thing that we love to do. We love to visit the properties.

We love to stay there and just, you know, feel a little bit how the atmosphere is. And of course, all the technical parts, like the photography, as I mentioned before, uh, the seasons, the weather, uh, we like to analyze all that, uh, so we can really understand the context. And beginning from that point, we start our design.

Uh, other mistakes could be not choosing the right materials for the tropics. Um, I mean, during the rainy season, uh, all the buildings tend to, you know, uh, they get hit pretty hard with the humidity and all the rain and stuff like that. Uh, but I believe that Costa Rica has some great opportunities for design, uh, because most of the year our weather is beautiful and super cool.

I really love, actually, I really love, uh, the rainy season, you know, it's lush green everywhere. Yeah. I mean, I love it.

I love to sit in a terrace and enjoy a cup of coffee, uh, completely covered of course. Uh, but yeah, I mean, there's great opportunities. And the first thing that, uh, you should, uh, look at, uh, is the context and how you can integrate the architecture to the sites.

[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. I mean, I completely agree. I mean, that bioclimactic kind of design that, you know, Costa Rica, like it's really heavy here because, you know, our, everything is just extremes here.

Our sun is an extreme, our humidity is an extreme, our rain is an extreme, you know? And like, so you have this cold rain coming down and then, you know, 30 minutes later, the sun beams out, dries it all up, it gets humid. So, you know, we have this contraction expansion, which, you know, in woods and metals and stuff, you know, makes it very interesting.

Put it that way when it comes to building. Yeah.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Yeah, exactly. And, you know, the contrast, uh, that we have during seasons, uh, it's like a way of, uh, choosing materials as well. I mean, if you would like to have, I don't know, like, a dark architecture that creates a really cool contrast with greenery, then you'll work with that, but you have to think about the dry season as well.

So, so yeah, it's all part of the same ecosystem.

[Richard Bexon]
Well, I mean, like take Guanacaste, I mean, it's green at the moment, but like come December, it's going to all be Brown and there's no leaves on the trees. So that like that black contrast with Brown might not look so great. Exactly.

Yeah. Correct. You know?

So, yeah. I mean, what tendencies are you guys starting to see, or are you implementing in your design when it comes to Costa Rica? Because they're always trends, but like, what are the, what are the things that you guys are trending towards?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Okay. Yeah. I mean, I like to think that we're not just following trends, you know, uh, we believe in timeless designs, uh, but I must say that right now, uh, I'm looking at some interesting trends because people are thinking a lot of in wellness, biophilic design, uh, greenery landscape.

So if that's the trend, uh, I'm really happy that is, you know, because, uh, we as architects, uh, need to really, really create an experience that enhances the way that you live. Uh, so I believe that those trends are great. And also, uh, in our firm, uh, we try to follow some traditional Costa Rican architecture ideas like the central garden, external corridors, uh, the use of big overhanging roofs.

So that's, uh, that, that kind of, uh, things, uh, we really enjoy using in all of our projects. Of course, there's like, uh, a translation of that tradition because we, uh, we are designing contemporary architecture, uh, but that foundation, uh, of, uh, the Costa Rican architecture is really important for us in order to, you know, uh, again, think about the context and where, where we are at.

[Richard Bexon]
Do you think the contemporary design is here to stay? Juan Diego, would you think that like fashion, it will come and go? Like, I think we probably saw it in probably the seventies and eighties, and then we moved to kind of more of like a, you know, Spanish colonial Hacienda style kind of design.

And now we're back in kind of more of that modern design. Do you think it's here to stay a little bit further, or do you think that we'll also see a change as well?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Well, I think it will stay a little bit further, especially because as you mentioned, uh, the contemporary design is really based on the modernism, uh, movement back in the, you know, twenties, fifties. Uh, so yeah, it's like a interpretation of that language as well, but I believe it will, or we're going to start seeing a lot of hybrid between contemporary tropical, you know, Boho design, industrial. So I think that that's, that's great.

You know, at the end, uh, right now you can't define exactly, uh, if a house is completely contemporary or modern or this and that, you know, there's, there's a lot of ideas going on and it depends on the architects and, uh, and how he handles all those ideas in one project. So I believe that, yeah, exactly.

[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. We've seen quite a contrast between that kind of modern, I would say colonial style, kind of that Tulum, you know, yeah. You know, style, uh, kind of coming in here, not as strong here in Costa Rica as it is in some other countries, but we're starting to definitely, I mean, in El Salvador, there's definitely, you know, uh, quite a bit of it.

Um, but we're definitely starting to see it kind of creep in here.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Exactly. Yeah. I believe that, I mean, the best thing that could happen is like a language coming from Costa Rica, you know, that of course we're, we're going to be using different, uh, ideas from other, uh, tendencies or another, you know, languages of architecture around the world.

But if, uh, that reinterpretates here in Costa Rica, I believe that we can create our, our own language and, uh, it could be a reference around the world.

[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. I just really love the Costa Rican colonial haciendas, you know, especially out in Guanacaste, where you have these huge planes and you have this, again, the internal garden and everything kind of built around it. I mean, it's, yeah, it's pretty cool.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

I really love it too.

[Richard Bexon]
Wow. I mean, when you guys, I mean, you mentioned there about the context and the setting it's in, I mean, when designing a home, say in, you know, Guanacaste, Northern Guanacaste and defining it does, you know, building out, designing a home in the Southern zone, whether that's Oso or Vita area, like how does that design differ for you guys?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Yeah. I mean, that's a really good question, especially because, uh, I mean, Costa Rica is a really small country, but we have a lot of contrast in the same province, uh, regarding, you know, weather, landscape, uh, soil conditions. It's really, really different.

Uh, in Guanacaste, uh, there's, you know, you could have, uh, cold weather, dry forest, tropical forest, rainy, uh, forests as well. So, I mean, there's a lot of variations. Uh, so if I compare, I don't know, let's say Avellanas and Ojochal, it basically circulates around the idea of, of the seasons, right?

In Avellanas, you have, uh, very, very drastic changes between dry and rainy season. So the landscape varies a lot. So I think that if you're going to be designing Avellanas, you need to consider that you need to think about the change of seasons and, I mean, use it in your favor, right?

Not against you, uh, because it's beautiful. I mean, you could, you could create something that looks really interesting during the rainy season and, uh, during the dry season, it will be more exposed. Uh, the, so you, you need to think about the overhangs.

You need to think about how the light will hit during the dry season. Uh, it will be really, really different from the rainy season in where you will have probably more shade, uh, of the trees on the ground and stuff like that. In Ojochal, I believe that, uh, there's like a longer, uh, greenery stage, you know, you will have more green vegetation during the whole year, uh, especially because, uh, I mean, uh, as the same as Guanacaste, uh, in Punta Arenas, you have, I mean, really close to Ojochal, uh, you have Corcoval, which is one of the most amazing parks that we have here in Costa Rica.

And there's a lot of fauna and there's a lot of, uh, you know, a lot of, uh, interesting, uh, vegetation there. And I mean, you can see a lot of things, uh, going on there and Ojochal, it's really close to that area. And so, uh, you will have like a really, uh, impact on the, how the landscape looks.

So I believe that in Ojochal, you need to consider that you're going to be having a lot of, uh, nice landscape during the whole year. And that's a great advantage, you know, it's really different from Guanacaste.

[Richard Bexon]
Well, I mean, I think you said it there that like, again, like you may have, let's just take, you know, in around the Havillanas area that like during the green season here, you might have a lot of shade because of the trees, et cetera, but then from December all the way through to like May, even sometimes June, you know, that you don't have that coverage from the, uh, from the sun. Um, so you just, you know, longer overhangs, you know, um, and the sun is stronger. Like it's just more, it's just drier that period of time as well.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Exactly, exactly. But in Ojochal you have more humidity, so you need to think about, you in your projects and you need to think that you have some humid areas that you need to avoid and the materials, uh, I mean, will age differently than Guanacaste. So it's a matter of, you know, how far do you want to go in the design?

I mean, if you want to think like in long-term or short-term, uh, that will impact how you project your projects and how you design everything and how you choose your materials and stuff like that.

[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. I mean, people are always looking, of course, for the most affordable ways to build in Costa Rica. Uh, and I think there are some options out there, but what, what are some of the stuff that you guys have seen where you're like, wow, that was a lot more affordable than we thought?

Or if you have a client that's budget conscious that they can, they can, you can use that to their, to their, to help them?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Well, I would say that, um, a good affordable way to build here in Costa Rica will be to use, uh, mostly exposed and raw materials like, you know, cinder blocks, uh, steel frames. Um, what else? I think that exposed concrete, steel, and you need to think that, I mean, when you're building, it could be more affordable to use cheap materials right now, but at the long term, you'll be changing the, uh, the materials.

You're going to have a lot of maintenance. So I would say that, uh, an affordable way will be a balance with the, between how much you spend right now and how much that investment, uh, will remain, you know, without a lot of maintenance during the next years of the construction. So it's kind of a balance.

[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. Yeah. It's just interesting that you say that, uh, you know, and I think that that's a question of like, look, sometimes it's better to invest a little bit more so that in 10 years, your house still looks, you know, it's been maintained very well.

Um, you know, especially in some of the climates that we have here, you know, I mean, I always say that the forest wants it back, you know, Costa Rica wants it back and it's constantly encroaching, like trying to take it back. Yeah. Yeah.

It's a good way of looking at it. Yeah. Well, I mean, a lot of people, you know, are definitely now looking to go off grid.

Um, you know, I think the one thing that people need to understand is that like 99% of electricity in Costa Rica comes from renewable sources anyway, whether that's hydro or thermal, you know, or wind. Um, you know, so yes, you can have solar systems here in Costa Rica, but you know, you guys have worked extensively with it. What should they understand about it?

And you know, is it worth doing?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Well, I think that as you mentioned, yeah, Costa Rica is like an example of renewable energy, but in terms of, uh, individual, uh, solar energy for houses, I think that we have a lot of, uh, roads to walk through because there's like two options in Costa Rica. I mean, you, you could have, uh, your solar system and still be connected to the grid. Uh, but the company, uh, will take off like, uh, like two at 80% of your bill every month, or you could have a batteries, but batteries are quite expensive right now.

I mean, everything is imported. Uh, you need to, to, uh, bring it from the U S or Europe or even China as well. Uh, so I think that right now of the grid projects will be really expensive and I'm up for it, but, you know, uh, it's, it's a balance as well.

Um, you could have another, um, source of energy as well. So you're not only using solar panel. I mean, you could use gas as well for your stove or water heater for your dryer and stuff like that.

So in that way, the solar system could be, uh, like less expensive and you will have like a good balance in your consumptions as well.

[Richard Bexon]
It's amazing how much electricity a dryer uses, you know, because you might go well, Costa Rica is sun and warm all the time. Yeah. But when it's humid stuff, doesn't dry.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Yeah.

[Richard Bexon]
You know? So, yeah, I mean the gas, the gas dryer is great. I've got one myself, you know, I use a gas cooker.

I use a gas dryer. I don't have, you know, gas water heaters, but yes, I do know quite a few people that do get them as well. So, so I think that that's, you know, definitely an option worth, and it's very affordable here, gas as well.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Yeah, exactly. I mean, you can use the hybrid models. Uh, you could have not a lot of batteries, but you're, you have gas, so you can, uh, I mean, you can use both.

And the one thing that you, that I think that we need to understand is that solar energy, it's, it's cool, but you need to change your, your state of mind, right? I mean, you can't consume the same energy that you use, uh, if you were connected to the grid. I mean, you have to, uh, uh, you have to manage your energy.

You have to have a different schedules in order to maintain your batteries fully charged. So you, you wouldn't run out of energy, you know?

[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. I mean, you know, I love to ask Costa Ricans, you know, like about what beach towns they like and what beach towns they would invest in. The reason being is you typically see this trend of Costa Ricans investing first, the place gets cool.

And then the, for like Nosada, there was a lot of Costa Ricans investing there, Santa Teresa, you know, all these areas. I mean, what are the beach towns that you would be investing in and why?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Well, yeah, I mean, uh, you said it yourself. Um, it's like, uh, in, in Nosada, I think that right now it's, uh, it's really hard to, to, to get into that market. So for my perspective, I would say that I will invest in upcoming areas to develop, especially because I really enjoy having like a good amount of area and I enjoy my privacy as well.

So I think that, uh, for instance, Ojo Chal is a great place to invest in because it's really close to Oita. Uh, it's really, it has a great infrastructure, uh, to get in there from San Jose. And so I believe that, I mean, Ojo Chal, for instance, is a great place to, to invest in right now, or the North of Guanacaste.

It's a little secluded, you know, but it's a beautiful place as well. So it, uh, so I think that if I will going to be building a house for me to live in, for instance, or to rent, I would say that those two places seems kind of nice right now.

[Richard Bexon]
Where abouts in Northern Guanacaste, if you don't mind me asking.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Uh, there's a place called, I remember the, I forgot the name, but it's close to Santa Rosa. It's up North in Guanacaste.

[Richard Bexon]
Like Los Hobos? Los Hobos or? Yeah, yeah.

Near, near the area. Exactly. Yeah.

Okay. It's amazing. A lot of stuff is starting to move up there.

I mean, the Dreams La Marias is up there and there've been quite a couple of developments starting to happen up there, you know? Um, so yeah, it's going to be interesting to see where that goes because that area has been really quiet to, you know, until recently. So.

Yeah. And it's beautiful. Junquijal, that place is beautiful as well.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Yeah.

[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. We'd, uh, we actually had, um, um, Dave Matt from the Aletha project, who's doing a beachfront development there on Junquijal on the podcast. Junquijal keeps coming up, you know, Ochoachao keeps coming up, you know, it's these, it's kind of bleeding out into these, all the cool cat areas, which, which could be the next Masada in Santa Teresa.

I mean, who knows, you know?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Who knows?

[Richard Bexon]
Yeah. Well, Juan Diego, my last question for you, uh, if, which I'd love to ask everyone, if you inherited $500,000 and you had to invest it into a business or into real estate in Costa Rica, what would you invest it in and why?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Well, I will try to diversify, uh, that amount of money. Uh, probably I will, uh, invest some in passive income, you know, just to be safe with that investment. And I would say that I'm really, I really enjoy, uh, the hospitality, uh, industry.

I mean, we have designed a couple of hotels at the office and I, I find out, I found out that it's a really good business and it has a really nice profit. So probably I will create, you know, like, uh, I don't know, Airbnb, or I will, I will build a home and resell it later. So I would say that I will go in that direction.

I will diversify some of it and invest in, in hospitality, Airbnb type of hotels or states.

[Richard Bexon]
And is there a particular location that you would look at doing that in?

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Well, uh, yeah, not as specifically in the coast, but I really, I really enjoy going to Monte Verde. Uh, it's, yeah, it's, it's in Punta Arenas, really close to, you know, uh, to Ochoa as well. I mean, it's like two hour, three hour drive.

So yeah, probably Monte Verde because it has a really special location. You're close to Arenal, uh, to San Carlos, uh, to Jaco, you know, it's on its way to Guadalcaste. So yeah, Monte Verde for me, it's a very special place.

Uh, so I probably say, yeah, that Monte Verde.

[Richard Bexon]
I think you might be the first person or maybe the second person that's ever mentioned Monte Verde on the podcast, but it's interesting just because again, I know a lot of hoteliers up there, um, and it's really starting, you know, there is a much more luxury higher end client moving to that area. Yeah. So, well Juan Diego, this has been great.

Really appreciate you coming on the podcast, sharing some of your knowledge. I'll put all of your contact details in the description, but, uh, but yeah, thanks very much for your time Juan Diego.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Thank you, Richard. And I really enjoy spending time here with you chatting a little bit. So hope to be here again soon.

[Richard Bexon]
Fantastic. Thanks very much.

[Juan Diego Cardenas]
Okay. Bye. Bye.