Architecture studio TAAC and interior designer Sara Skalli have created a seaside hotel in Mexico that uses traditional materials including chukum ? a finish made from tree resin and limestone.
Named Casa Yuma, the 25-room boutique hotel is located on Playa Los Naranjos, a short drive from Puerto Escondido on the Pacific coast of Mexico.
Casa Yuma sits between a palm grove and the beach
Skalli, who co-owns the hotel with friends Camille Lambert and Tim de Belloy, felt it was important for the buildings to utilise materials native to the region.
She and the project architect, TAAC founder Ricardo de la Concha, devised a materials palette that centres around the use of chukum.
The hotel offers 25 guest suites
Described as a "vegetal concrete", this water-resistant, plaster-like material is made by combining the resin of indigenous chukum trees with limestone-based stucco. The material often has a strong red tone ?  as seen in other new Mexico buildings like as the Xique Boutique Hotel and Tulix housing ? although the colour here is closer to a pale concrete-like grey.
Furniture and textiles were sourced from local artisans
Skalli said the use of chukum was intended to create "an ambience that is both organic and sustainable".
"My main goal was to create an environment where elegance harmoniously blends with the surrounding nature while reflecting the warmth and authenticity of this unique land," she said.
The entrance is via a thatched palapa h...