Located in the heart of Mérida’s Historic Center, Casa Paradiso is a compact residential project that integrates architectural restoration with contemporary intervention. Just steps from Parque La Plancha, the property sits on a narrow urban lot measuring only 3.30 meters in width and 30 meters in depth. This constrained footprint—alongside heritage preservation guidelines set by INAH—shaped the design response and construction strategy.

The project began with the restoration of the existing two-story structure at the front of the site. This volume retains its original character while accommodating key social functions: living room, dining area, kitchen, and terrace on the ground floor, with a guest bedroom, en-suite bathroom, and private terrace above.

The house is organized around a central patio that functions as the project’s spatial core. Inspired by traditional Yucatecan typology, the courtyard introduces light, ventilation, and vegetation into the narrow plan. A mature tree—preserved in its original position and partially integrated into a masonry wall—serves as the organizing element. Adjacent to it, a green-pigmented concrete wall and small plunge pool define the atmosphere of this open-air space.

A new volume at the center and rear of the lot houses the primary bedroom and bathroom. The interior opens fully to a secondary patio, ensuring natural ventilation and daylight throughout. This strategy counteracts the potential confinement associated with the lot’s elongated proportions.

Material selection emphasizes craftsmanship and regional identity. The palette includes handmade pasta tiles, Yucatán travertine marble, exposed concrete, light-toned woods, traditional masonry, and cast concrete breeze blocks. Finishes are left raw or minimally treated, reinforcing the project’s honest material language.

Casa Paradiso is an exploration of boundaries—those of physical space, of time, and of design itself—where constraints become the catalyst for reimagining contemporary ways of inhabiting space.