The All Things Healing Spiritual Retreat and Learning Center (ATH) consists of five buildings and three pavilions on a rugged 11-acre site near San Ramon, Costa Rica. The owner's vision that the campus express the Center’s core values of environmental responsibility, community, and harmony with the natural environment became primary drivers of the project planning and design. Major design goals included restoration of the site’s ecology, use of local construction methods and materials, and a strong interaction between interior and exterior spaces.
The facilities include an open-air reception building, flexible classrooms, dining hall with indoor and outdoor dining, extended stay residences for teachers and guests, a private residence for the founders, a 70-person hotel with support lounges, and various open air pavilions for classes with views of the Pacific Ocean.
Cultural, Spatial, and Materials Design Goals:
- Allow site landscape and ecology to guide
development of program
- Allow Costa Rican culture and building typologies to
guide our vocabularies
- Create appropriate spatial experiences to respond to
the Center’s mission
- Use sensory experience (site and architecture) to
create rich user experiences
- Use local materials and construction methods
Sustainability Guidelines:
- Restore tree canopy and indigenous ecosystems
- Implement a long-term erosion and sediment control
plan
- Use passive design strategies including daylighting,
passive heating/cooling, natural ventilation,
optimized building orientation and fenestration
- Minimize overall energy consumption
- Use rainwater harvesting and greywater systems
- Implement a wastewater management plan
considering bio-digester, living machine, composting
toilets, and greywater systems"
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