Casa Atalaya is built in rammed earth, an artisan method in which damp soil is compacted in layers between forms. Nothing is rendered over it afterwards: the finished walls carry the bands, grain and colour shifts of the material itself, so the house reads as one worked object rather than a set of decorated rooms.
The architecture holds two traditions at once. The proportions, courtyards and shaded thresholds come from the Mexican hacienda; the restraint and the framing of views come from Japanese building. Six bedrooms take twelve guests.
Around them: a master pool beside the garden and a second pool on the lower level, each with its own place to eat; a cava bar; a screening room; a petanque court; and open areas for training. The jungle is left to do what it does, and the ocean view across it is unbroken.