The story
A few small rooms strengthen the community center behind them.
El Puente serves Indigenous communities around Puerto Viejo de Talamanca with food, clothing, emergency assistance, shared meals, and space to sustain local traditions. Its next project is intentionally small: two to four guest rooms with private bathrooms and a shared kitchen behind the existing center. The rooms would host visiting volunteers, provide temporary shelter for families who must travel long distances from the reserve to reach services, and create modest rental income that supports El Puente's wider work. The brief asks for a secure one- or two-story design connected to nature and shaped by local cultural knowledge, natural materials, and an environmentally responsible approach.
The land is already owned, but funding and final design are still being developed; no construction is verified. The architectural opportunity lies in double use. A compact place to sleep can become both practical hospitality and a stabilizing resource for the organization, making the center more capable without overwhelming its scale or landscape.