[Design of] a sustainable house at Morgan's Rock, Cornezuelo, Nicaragua

Working with Nicaraguan architectural/design practice 'Simplemente Madera’ the research project was to develop a quality sustainable holiday residence to be built in Nicaragua. The purpose was to produce it using certified timber and encompassing a sustainable design approach, using existing technology and locally available materials. The resulting building was part of a resort development called 'Morgan’s Rock', a series of buildings consisting of a hotel, residential cabins and other facilities, which provide the setting for a range of high quality furniture designs and interior spaces. It was described in the Guardian, Nov '03 as one of the best ecological tourist developments in Central America. http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2004/oct/16/nicaragua.guardiansaturdaytravelsection Located off the Pacific coast in south Nicaragua the project developed as part of an ongoing dialogue about the nature of place in architecture, exploring the idea of place not so much in geographical terms, as defined by latitude and longitude, but rather by a particular and unique sense of a locality, emerging from growing concerns about the impact of building on the environment, and related issues of critical regionalism. The complex inter-relationships that informs context, from the immediate issues of site and materials to social and cultural factors, have provided an enduring, albeit adapting, reference in the work