Iseami House, Costa Rica by Robles Arquitectos

Created by Robles Arquitectos, the house is isolated from civilization that it has no access to public power cables, sanitation, or water. For the latter, the house uses water from the forest, which also serves as a power source thanks to two low-impact hydroelectric turbines that crank 800kWh. In addition to the generators, the roof can provide up to 10,800kWh of electricity thanks to its panels. Additional panels heat up the water.

The house uses water from the forest, which is also used as a power source by the two low-impact hydroelectric turbines that generate 800KWh of electricity. Additionally, 10,800KWh of electricity is provided by a rooftop solar array, which has been designed in order to have the orientation and position to maximize electricity generation.


All the materials used in the construction of the house have been tested to evaluate their behavior in the difficult environment of the area, which is highly humid. The structure has further been designed to maximize use of natural ventilation and illumination to reduce the need for artificial means.

The structural and electro mechanic design has been inspired on an exo-skeleton insect, this way the creation of open spaces between walls and ceilings are eliminated, creating a benefit for the indoor air quality because we avoid the creation of mould and plagues common in the projects around.

Within the chosen materials, the thermal-panels (Versawall and Versapanel by Centria) are chosen as the main material for walls and roof because of its solar reflectance index, structural and acoustic properties and ability to give the thermal comfort without using empty spaces on the walls.

This material brings the opportunity to build the house, piece by piece as a Lego, a great strategy to minimize the use of transportation in order to lower the carbon footprint of the institute and the ability to build the house with fast and minimum labor on this secluded location.

Because of the high structural capabilities of the material, the amount of steel structure was lowered considerably, saving the use of the natural resources needed for the anti-seismic structure. Furthermore the thermal-panel is a very light and easy to install, low maintenance and highly resistant material for humidity.