Located between Ilhéus and Itacaré, on the coast of Bahia, the municipality of Uruçuca houses a new hotel destination that encompasses master planning, architecture, interior design, visual communication, and landscaping, authored by ARCHITECTS OFFICE, for a respectful and intimate experience with nature.
Project Name: Masterplan Uruçuca
Studio Name: Architects Office
Country: Brazil
Design Team: Founder: Greg Bousquet Director of Architecture: Sávio Jobim Team: Carolina Passos, Daniela Bertuol, Filipe Meltzer, Thiago Buccieri, Larissa Oliveira
Consultants: Caiubi Penteado, RBdev, Fluxus, Positiva Consultoria
Image Credits: Marcelo Checchia, Thiago Buccieri
Located between Ilhéus and Itacaré, on the coast of Bahia, the municipality of Uruçuca is home to a new hotel destination designed by ARCHITECTS OFFICE for a respectful and intimate experience with nature. The creation involves a complete solution of master planning, architecture, interior design, visual communication, and landscaping, envisioned on a vast plot facing the sea of Bahia. Spanning two lots with distinct urban parameters—one near the beach and the other in the continental area, close to BR 001—the project explores how to establish a mixed-use tourism venture that benefits leisure activities while preserving nature and the local community’s way of life. With the assistance of partners from Positiva Consultoria and Fluxus, the planned implementation incorporates ecological design, agroecology, and permaculture from the initial phase.
Developing a main headquarters, bungalows, and a beach club with a restaurant and amenities, permeable and integrated with a system of open and green areas, the structures bring implementation to the pedestrian scale, architectures that embrace habitation where proportion, harmony, and materiality are composed to narrate contemporary well-being.
Thus, on the lot facing the sea, a linear reception was implemented to serve as an acoustic and visual barrier while ensuring the privacy of the bungalow area in relation to the highway, providing a smooth transition consistent with the proposal for immersive lodging in Uruçuca’s nature. The accommodations consist of 44 bungalows arranged in a village-like layout, positioned around a central axis. They emphasize the ocean view and have the freedom to assume four typologies: 30m², 60m², 80m², and 100m². There are units of 30m² for up to four people, with a closet and ventilated bathroom, units of 60m² with a living area, units of 80m² with 1 suite and 1 bedroom, kitchenette, and suite, accommodating up to four people. And units of 100m², with 2 suites, leisure terrace, with a hot tub and gourmet kitchen. The architectural structure brings a language of cohesion, unity that intertwines with the local nature.
The beach club integrates with the bungalow area through vegetated paths and vegetable gardens, as well as natural pools. The beach club structure includes a lookout with a sea view, as well as a salon with high ceilings, featuring an exclusive regional restaurant and support infrastructure. As an identity, the architecture and interior design project sought to rescue traditional elements of Bahia, and particularly of Uruçuca, such as the use of wood and bamboo as raw materials. The reception coverings, ceramic tile floors, and coconut shell evoke hospitality and the retrieval of local memory. The walls are made of stones overlaid on an engineered wood structure. In the bungalows, wattlework stands out, while the beach club features a scissor-shaped bamboo roof, creating a warm and typical environment of regional architecture. Both the design of the ensemble and the strategies for waste treatment and electricity generation aim to reduce environmental impact and provide greater self-sufficiency, resulting in a sustainable, welcoming conception in harmony with regional culture.
