La Cima Residential by Ricardo De Castro

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DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

RDC : La Cima, is inspired by the unique and characteristic natural habitat of the Colombian Sierra Nevada, seeks to integrate into the environment and intervene in the terrain as little as possible.

DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

RDC : The purpose of the design is to explore the architectural relationship between the interior and the exterior, blur the boundaries between the constructed and the natural and ensure a friendly and sustainable construction with the environment.

DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?

RDC : I will expoxe it at the Bienal Colombiana de Arquitectura

DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

RDC : Six months

DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

RDC : It was a commissioned design for residential house that can be use as a vacation rental.

DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?

RDC : The design have been build.

DI: What made you design this particular type of work?

RDC : To show the world Colombia Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

DI: Who is the target customer for his design?

RDC : High end costumers.

DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

RDC : Materials, colors and awareness of it surroundings produce a A new style in colombia modern architecture.

DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

RDC : la Cima means “The top” The name comes from the location of the project, as is located at ‘the “Top” of the peak of the mountain.

DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

RDC : Autocad, sketchup and Reit.

DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?

RDC : The way it preserved nature and had almost no change to the surrounding.

DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

RDC : General construction and Architect Grace Villalba

DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

RDC : The design team investigated the environmental and constructive variables of the place where the project would be located (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta), focusing attention on bioclimatic and sustainable strategies applicable to housing design in the area.

DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

RDC : The main challenge of the design was to generate a sustainable home with low environmental impact, where the environment was an envelope of the space and where in direct view of the sea and the mountains of the sierra.

DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

RDC : I will like to promote internationally apur project, region and country.

DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

RDC : I learn about new construction techniques.

DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?

RDC : The passive design principles corresponding to natural ventilation and solar control were reviewed. Additionally, a study of shadows was carried out on the ground that allows determining the correct orientation of the volume. This research resulted in the generation of a solar chimney through roof skylights and a photovoltaic energy panel system to ensure thermal comfort inside and the use of renewable energy.