Polochic Coffee Mill Extension
Deep in Guatemala’s Polochic Valley, this project transforms part of a working coffee mill into a two-bedroom dwelling, extending the existing structure with a lightweight timber volume suspended above the productive landscape.
The intervention places the bedrooms and bathroom within the existing building, while the kitchen and living spaces occupy the new elevated extension. Opening onto a generous balcony, the living area looks simultaneously towards the surrounding jungle and down onto the coffee-drying patio, where the mill continues to operate. Raising the extension into the tree canopy creates a different relationship with the landscape: domestic life takes place among the foliage, birds and changing tropical light, while remaining visually connected to the agricultural activity below.
The architecture is shaped fundamentally by the conditions of the Polochic Valley: heat, high humidity, intense rainfall and dense vegetation. Rather than creating a sealed interior dependent on mechanical cooling, the house is conceived as a permeable structure that allows the tropical climate to move through it.
There is no glass in the external openings. Timber frames fitted with mosquito netting maintain continuous natural ventilation while providing protection from insects. Deep roof overhangs shade the interiors and shelter the façades from heavy rainfall, while adjustable timber shutters allow sunlight, airflow and privacy to be regulated throughout the day. The extension is lifted above the ground, distancing the timber structure from moisture and allowing air to circulate beneath it.
The way the project was built became as important as its formal conception. Construction was carried out by a local carpenter and his assistant, largely by hand, using timber from fallen trees sourced in the surrounding jungle. The available wood varied in species, section and dimension, making a conventional standardised timber system inappropriate. Instead, the architecture adapted to the material as it became available.
The timber was dried locally using traditional methods and worked on site. Details were developed through an ongoing exchange between architect and carpenter, allowing decisions to respond directly to the qualities and limitations of each piece of wood. Design and construction consequently became part of the same evolving process—a form of slow architecture shaped by material availability, craftsmanship and time.
The project also explores an unusual coexistence between domestic and productive space. Rather than displacing the existing use of the building, the intervention allows the coffee mill to continue operating. Coffee is processed and dried below while everyday domestic life unfolds above, bringing habitation, agriculture and landscape into direct proximity.
Its environmental strategy follows the same logic of working with what is already present. The reuse of the existing structure limits new construction, while locally available timber reduces dependence on imported and highly processed materials. Thermal comfort is achieved primarily through orientation, shade, elevation and continuous natural ventilation rather than complex environmental systems.
Polochic Coffee Mill Extension is therefore not an attempt to impose architecture on the jungle, but to create a home that responds directly to its surroundings. Climate, existing structures, available materials and local craftsmanship become the parameters of the design, resulting in a connected, low-tech intervention rooted in the landscape and productive culture of the Polochic Valley.
