In designing Parque 28, a family home in San José del Cabo, Mexican architecture studios MEDEZA, YAGO, and LS TALLER operated under the primary goal of establishing a direct relationship with the desert landscape of Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Located in the residential development of Querencia, the house was conceived as an introspective sanctuary that protects the daily life of its inhabitants while maintaining a constant connection with nature.
The design responds to the region’s natural and climatic conditions through the integration of earth tones, mineral textures, and native vegetation. The defining feature of Parque 28 is a large, curved volume of pigmented concrete that establishes the house’s identity and guides the spatial experience from the entrance, creating a sequence that reveals itself gradually. Rather than imposing itself, this organic geometry emerged from a reinterpretation of the development’s strict local building guidelines.
“A regulatory constraint was transformed into the project’s primary design resource,” said the studios. “It demonstrates that initial conditions can become opportunities to generate architecture with its own identity.”
The architectural journey begins with a curved concrete volume that guides users at a leisurely pace through subtle shifts in light and distinct textures until reaching a central courtyard. The courtyard serves as the core of daily life, organizing the architectural program by seamlessly connecting public and private spaces. The complete openness of the enclosures allows interior spaces to extend into the central void, blurring the lines between indoor and outdoor areas. This arrangement optimizes habitability by introducing controlled natural light and cross-ventilation throughout the residence.
“The sand-toned pigmented concrete does not seek to imitate the landscape; rather, it establishes a dialogue with it,” explained the studios. “We wanted the material to strengthen the connection to the desert and solidify the sanctuary’s character through mineral textures, regional stone, and natural wood, which bring warmth and solidity to a human scale.”
The main residential zone efficiently distributes its spaces, integrating a master bedroom, three secondary bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a family room, and service areas.
To enhance social interaction and flexibility, the layout includes a secondary multifunctional volume that functions as an extension of the main social areas. This block houses a private office, a television room, a bar area, and a game room, designed to promote a harmonious balance of recreational activities, creativity, and independent work.
Parque 28’s material palette reinforces its connection to the desert. Sand-toned pigmented concrete takes center stage, evoking the site’s natural colors through a continuous, raw-textured surface. This material is complemented by walls and facades made of regional stone, which provide solidity and permanence, and natural wood, which introduces warmth. The entire architecture is complemented by a meticulous xerophytic landscaping composed of species native to the region.
One of the main construction challenges was executing the large, exposed concrete curve. In collaboration with specialized carpenters, the team developed a formwork made of pre-curved timber planks arranged with high precision. This process produced a continuous surface with a uniform texture that emphasizes the sculptural character of the main volume, transforming a technical solution into an essential architectural element.
Photography by César Belio.
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