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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Riverside Market Project, San Isidro de Heredia, Costa Rica
Author(s)
Julio Jiménez
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DOI:10.17265/1934-7359/2018.02.008
Affiliation(s)
JUSA-Total Project Care, Architect/Engineer, Costa Rica
ABSTRACT
During 2011 a client came
seeking assistance for the development of a roadside property located on the
main highway to the Caribbean Coast from Costa Rica’s capital San José; he had
in mind a barbecue restaurant for truckers and road users, but was challenged
to ponder on pursuing a truly sustainable and inclusive approach for his
project. A living and evolving micro-urban system inspired in permaculture was
proposed. After the initial conversations, the owner went on to study
sustainable production practices, bio-intensive agriculture, wood construction
and related topics. He came back on 2013 and the first phase was finally built
in 2015. It all was to start as a small roadside café, with the eventual
establishment of an organic marketplace. Significant portions of old walls and
floors remaining on site, as fragments of a formerly burned down building, were
salvaged/recycled and utilized in combination with new light wood structures,
minimally touching the ground yet maximizing space quality and use. The small
cafe quickly turned into a lively and successful brick-oven pizza place and
gastro-pub with current plans to expand into the diversified organic
marketplace once imagined. Key sustainable building features include the
salvaging of existing structures and floors, the use of reforestation wood
(teak, melina) processed on site, and the implementation of passive tropical
design strategies. The project has its own organic orchard and composting
systems and priority is given to locally sourced produce and products.
Electrical energy expenditure is minimized by traditional wood cooking methods.
The venue has positively influenced and contributed to the local community and
the sustainable/organic culture of our small green country. It all combines
together to create a business model based on sustenance, learning and
information exchange, adding up to much more than the sum of its parts.
KEYWORDS
Low carbon, adaptive, passive tropical, micro-urbanism.
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