Sarco Architects is an award-winning architectural firm based out of Cost Rica that specializes in Tropical housing and helps its clients to build a dream home that is true to the traditional Costa Rican lifestyle, or as the locals call it “Pura Vida”, or “Pure Life”.

Using a revolutionary architectural system that they have named SARCO, this Luxury Lifestyle Awards Top 100 Architects and Designers winner has a new approach to architecture and design, which eliminates the hassle of long days on-site for their discerning homeowners and international investors. To learn a bit more about this and to better understand their philosophy, we sat down with the founder and brain behind Sarco Architects, Roderick Anderson, to ask him a few questions.

Luxury Lifestyle Awards: Tell us the story of how you founded Sarco Architects and what inspired the move?

Roderick Anderson:

In reality, my father founded the firm in the early 1970s.  Ever since, from a very young age, I accompanied my father to jobsites and always felt at ease around projects and construction sites.  When I was still in architecture school, my father passed away suddenly, and I had to take charge of the firm at a very early age.  The initial years were very hard, and we did all type of odd projects, but eventually grew onto bigger and better projects onto the specialty of what we do today.

LLA: What exactly is the SARCO system and what are its benefits to the client?

RA: The SARCO System is an interplay of 4 different main elements of our work philosophy and how we serve our clients.  Those 4 elements are: design talent, technology, construction know-how and experience, and client communication.  The combination of these four core components of our services helps us provide a bespoke and very detailed service to our clients.  The result is that each of our clients feels not only amazed with the design and the resulting property that they will enjoy for many years, but they also were able to feel involved, informed, and fully engaged in the process, but at the same time relaxed and at ease, realizing their project is in expert hands at all times.

LLA: What does Costa Rica mean to you and the rest of the team?

RA: First of all, it means home.  I am Costa Rican, and my design and construction teams are as well.  We are extremely proud that we have been able to raise our level of design talent, expertise, and quality of service in such a way that we offer our clients international-level, award-winning design, and service from an entirely local team.  Often, we hear from our own clients the compliments that they feel they obtained a much better, smoother experience for their projects than what they received from other firms back in the USA, for other projects they may have done recently.  One current client just this year mentioned that “…this has been by far the most detailed and smoothest project experience we have ever had.”, and they had built several properties before, in Canada and in the UK.

LLA: What changes have you seen in architecture and interior design over the last 5 years?

RA: I will speak mainly to the changes that we see locally in the approach of how clients are viewing their projects.  5 years ago, clients had a mindset of owning a home in Costa Rica merely as a vacation residence.  Years ago, the goal was only thinking about their own personal use as a vacation residence, and this could somehow limit the scope of the project and their decision if to do the project or not.  Then we started transitioning onto the high-end luxury rental economy, which has made much easier for many clients to make the decision to build their luxury home abroad.  Even if they may not see the project as a money-maker, the ability to rent their homes for specific times allow them to compensate the operational yearly costs of owning the home.  Nowadays, after the pandemic, the mindset has totally changed.  People are viewing their vacation homes as actual homes.  As places they can decide to come to for extended stays.  Places that may provide a sense of safety and security for them in the event of a future unforeseen event.

LLA: What makes Tropical architecture so challenging?

RA: Typically, it is a combination of several factors that all come together into one.  Firstly, the weather.  Even if we don’t necessarily get direct impact of hurricanes, it is very common that as those move through the Caribbean, we get low-pressure zones that create massive rains and even potentially strong winds.  And our typical rainy season day goes from strong sunshine in the mornings to a downpour in the early afternoon to the sun coming back out at the end of the day.  This cycle creates a strong demand on structures, materials, and infrastructure.  We also have important swings in relative humidity where we may have several weeks or months at 100% relative humidity, and then transition to a dry season where we may go down to around 30% humidity.  This puts a strain on natural materials such as woods that are constantly in movement due to these changes.  Designing to achieve a high level of livability and enjoyment in the tropical conditions takes a lot of knowing how the climate and the natural conditions behave, so that you can design spaces that provide their users with coolness of natural breezes, ample protection from the sun, and at the same time a connection with nature.

LLA: Sustainability has become increasingly important in most industries today. What measures or practices do you have in place to conserve the environment?

RA: We place a focus on selecting materials that we know are sustainably produced and preferably on locally sourced materials.  Local natural materials also give the projects a unique flair and character.  Also, another important approach is that we design our homes with lots of natural-air breezeways.  As much as we can, we will design corridors and staircases as natural open-air covered areas, so that our clients can save a substantial amount of energy (and the corresponding environmental impact) in the day-to-day operation of their homes.  And we will of course top it off with always using energy-efficient and energy-saving systems and equipment.

LLA: Can you tell us a bit more about Casa Aramara and the other exciting properties in your portfolio?

RA: Wow, I can go on for a long time.  What I can say is that each of the homes that we create are designed fully customized for their owners and their lifestyles and adapted closely to the natural site.  Our projects always feel as if they belong on the site, never imposed on them.  We don’t necessarily design projects to obtain a stunning exterior or to win awards.  We design our homes to provide our clients with a wonderful experience of ownership of a piece of paradise, designed especially for them to enjoy with friends and family for years to come.  In the process we design beautiful structures that speak to and relate to nature and that give our clients that unique connection to nature.  As a coincidence, the care and meticulous attention to detail to our projects eventually win us multiple international awards.

LLA: BIM Modeling and 3D Visualization sound like something from the future, can you tell us more about this?

RA: For us those are essential tools of our day-to-day work.  However, for many firms they either do not use it, or do not use it to the level that we do.  These are tools that allow our clients to fully visualize, understand and engage in the design process and to be able to understand the design that we propose, and to give us proper and accurate direction and feedback.  And all this happens while all our clients are thousands of miles away, all over the USA, Canada, and Europe.  Also, these are essential tools that allow our construction teams to provide unmatched attention to detail on the execution of our projects, as they can equally visualize and understand the design and how they need to execute it.

LLA: What tips would you give to anyone looking to build their dream home in Costa Rica?

RA: There are many, so wouldn’t have the opportunity to list them all here.  However, the best tip I can give anybody is that they should truly do their homework and make sure they can hire the best design team and consultants they can.  Making sure you invest in a high-level firm like ourselves will make sure that your investment in your project is a safe and enjoyable one.  I hear so many horror stories of people that complain about their bad experiences when doing a project here.  Usually there is one common denominator: those people always tried to save a buck and went for the least expensive choice, not the best or the most qualified choice.

LLA: What does the Luxury Lifestyle Awards Top 100 Architects and Designers mean to you and the team?

RA: It is a great added recognition to the quality of our design and our work on our projects.  Being named onto such a list in company with equally high-level design firms from around the globe is a truly honoring recognition.  And being the only firm from Costa Rica to reach such a recognition is even better.

LLA: What exciting projects are you working on at the moment?

RA: We are completing two amazing multi-million tropical luxury homes.  One of them will actually be one of the most amazing ultra-luxury residences in the country, but one that still allows to feel as a home, as a casual, easy to live and enjoy residence that provides a strong connection with nature.  And to make it more enjoyable once we complete this project in the next couple of months, we were recently honored with this home being awarded with the “Best Architecture Single Residence Americas 2022-2023” award by the International Property Awards, at their most recent award gala event at The Savoy, in London.

LLA: What does the future hold for Sarco Architects?

RA: I think we will enjoy being able to help more and more high-net-worth international clients design and build amazing luxury homes for them to enjoy for many years to come.  Costa Rica is more and more in the eye of the international high-end market, and we strive to bring all our clients a very high level of design and experience to make their lives easy along the way.

For more information, visit https://www.sarcoarchitects.com/