London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2025

Taller de Arquitectura X Designs Casona Sforza Hotel in Puerto Escondido

Taller de Arquitectura X Designs Casona Sforza Hotel in Puerto Escondido

Casona Sforza, a boutique hotel in Puerto Escondido by Taller de Arquitectura X, treads lightly on the Pacific coastline and supports Indigenous Mexican artisans.


At Casona Sforza, an 11-key boutique hotel in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, by Taller de Arquitectura X, a long terrace and the brick barrel-vaulted roofs of guest suites intersect the salt-chlorinated pool’s concentric circular forms. Photography by Alex Krotkov.

Even before opening its doors to guests this winter, Casona Sforza was already onto its second act. The 11-suite beachfront hotel in Puerto Escondido, on Mexico’s Pacific coast, was originally com­missioned by Ezequiel Ayarza Sforza as a private beach house. But midway through conceiving the project with Mexico City architect and Taller de Arquitectura X founder Alberto Kalach, Ayarza Sforza switched gears. His casa became the eco-luxe Casona bearing his name. “It just made more sense as a hotel than a house,” the Argentina-born entrepreneur begins. “It’s such a special place-I realized it should be shared with others.”



The property’s public spaces, at right, are completely open to the elements, while guest suites, behind, feature clerestories and louvered doors in Macuili and oak for privacy. Photography by Alex Krotkov.

It’s not the first time Ayarza Sforza has had a change of heart like that. He transformed what was originally meant to be a vacation home on a remote Caribbean beach near Tulum into a small boutique property known as Casa Bautista. That experience served Ayarza Sforza well in learning about service and the hospitality trade. “I always wanted to have a hotel,” he enthuses.



In the double-height lounge, wood-and-rattan armchairs and a daybed, all custom, gather beneath palm-frond pendant fixtures handwoven in Jalisco. Photography by Alex Krotkov.

An hour flight from Mexico City, the site of Casona Sforza is equally tranquil, located on a stretch of coastline known for small inns catering to surfers drawn to Puerto Escondido’s world-class rip curls rather than large resorts. “It’s very authentic, with a lot of culture and history, a place where you really feel the presence of Oaxaca,” Ayarza Sforza says of the Mexican state, known for its rich artisanal and culinary traditions. He and Kalach master-planned the property to keep much of the 1-acre site intact: They cleared less than 30 percent of the natural landscape of mangroves, oaks, and cypress. “We sited the buildings to cause the least amount of intrusion and to take advantage of the views, ocean breezes, and offshore winds,” notes Kalach, pointing out that the rooms remain comfortably cool without much or any mechanical air-conditioning. Considered one of the most versatile and prolific architectural voices in Mexico City, Kalach has focused his career on site-specific projects that blend into the natural environment and underscore his concern for the environment. In fact, Casona Sforza’s tagline is a “planet-conscious casa boutique.”



An upper-level suite’s terrace, outfitted with a rope hammock made by Yucatán artisans and another custom, daybed, looks out to the Pacific Ocean. Photography by Alex Krotkov.

In converting his design from home to hotel, the architect maintained the project’s overall footprint-staggered volumes nestled into the gentle hillsides and fronting a large circular pool-but tweaked the position of openings and partitions to define public lounges and dining areas, as well as the private suites. Kalach also maintained the distinctive brick arches and vaults that his client initially suggested but got cold feet for during the design process. “When Alberto delivered the final concept with flat roofs, I told him, ‘We have to go back to the vaults,’” Ayarza Sforza recalls. “He said, ‘Are you crazy?’ But at the end of the day, he really wanted them, too.”



The restaurant showcases offerings from hotel owner Ezequiel Ayarza Sforza’s philanthropic organization, Pueblo del Sol, which helps support Indigenous Oaxacan com­munities-from ceramic dinnerware to homegrown coffee, greens, and honey. Photography by Alex Krotkov.

An unusual typology for beachside villas, the vaulted brick shed has a precedent elsewhere in Mexico’s vernacular architecture. “There’s a long and important tradition of vaulted construction here, especially in the interior of the country,” Kalach explains. “Plus the vaults have lots of benefits. They are seismically stable and help with air circulation, and the curves allow positive energy to flow better.” Ayarza Sforza adds that they help “vibrations bounce around and create a sense of peacefulness.” More pragmatically, the thermal mass of the brick walls and ceilings help cool the naturally ventilated interiors.



A suite bedroom showcases the work of local artisans, who crafted the sand-colored bricks in two sizes-large modules stacked horizontally along the walls and smaller ones arching up the vaulted ceiling-plus the wool rug and bedcover. Photography by Alex Krotkov.

Simple and timeless, the architecture is, as Kalach describes, “austere but powerful.” Hand-crafted by local artisans, the sandy-hued bricks represent the Casona’s imperative to build with locally produced materials and avoid synthetic products wherever possible. Other sustainable features include a wastewater treatment plant operated with activated charcoal (in lieu of septic tanks that might damage the local aquifer) and a forthcoming solar-generated electrical system (its installation delayed by pandemic-related protocols). The furnishings, which Kalach says his client oversaw with “great tact and great style,” also draw on the talents of weavers from Oaxaca and makers of woven-palm lamps and rope hammocks in Veracruz, Jalisco, and the Yucatán.



In a bathroom, the sink and soaking tub are cast concrete. Photography by Alex Krotkov.

For Casona’s custom furniture and millwork, including wardrobes and louvered windows in such local hardwoods as Macuili, Ayarza Sforza turned to the carpenters of Pueblo del Sol, a philanthropic organization he created to support Indigenous communities of the Oaxacan highlands. Workers in the village, located about an hour’s drive from Casona, craft the hotel’s bath and beauty products from honey they produce on-site and they cultivate the organic coffee served to guests, while ceramic artisans make the dinnerware for Casona’s restaurant. “Our guiding principle is that everything we do at the hotel helps support Pueblo del Sol,” Ayarza Sforza says. Pueblo del Sol also provides yoga, meditation, and healing arts classes to guests of Casona, and upcoming plans for the organization include a new textile studio, a preschool, and cabins where guests can expand their vacation beyond the beach to include organic farming and beekeeping workshops. Ayarza Sforza is headed to Africa later this year to explore a Pueblo outpost; another location, possibly in Argentina, is on the radar as well. More reasons for Ayarza Sforza-and the fellow Latinxs he champions-to be proud that what he’d planned to be his beach house now serves a much higher purpose.



A ground-floor suite has its own private pool. Photography by Alex Krotkov.



Wardrobes are custom-made of wood and rattan, and the brick surfaces help maintain cool temperatures. Photography by Alex Krotkov.



The curves of the concrete pool echo the arches of the hotel’s roofline. Photography by Alex Krotkov.



Beside a chair designed by La Metropolitana, louvered windows and doors allow for natural cross-ventilation, drawing in sea breezes and minimizing reliance on air-conditioning. Photography by Alex Krotkov.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×