Navarro House in Jalisco by MRV Taller

Architectural concept

Navarro House was designed by MRV Taller as a vacation retreat capable of becoming, over time, the permanent home of a family of five. Located in Zapotlanejo, Jalisco, the residence responds to its owners’ desire to maintain a connection with their place of origin, their family, and their loved ones while living away from the city. More than a temporary residence, the project creates a place to return to, gather, and experience domestic life at a slower pace.

The proposal is conceived as a building protected from its surroundings and opened toward its own interior spaces. A large central courtyard and a secondary side courtyard introduce daylight into different areas of the house. This arrangement allows everyday life to remain connected to open spaces without directly exposing the domestic rooms to the immediate context.

Layout and program

With 277 square meters of usable floor area distributed across two levels, Navarro House contains a single-family residential program designed for rest and shared life. Its organization favors gathering spaces while preserving more private areas for the residents. The courtyards act as spatial references throughout the house and help establish clear relationships between the different rooms.

Solid volumes and voids are strategically placed to direct views toward these open spaces. As a result, the living areas remain visually connected to the house’s controlled exterior spaces, while the transitions between rooms gain greater depth. The architecture allows the family to welcome relatives and friends without losing the intimacy expected from a home.

Daylight, privacy, and indoor–outdoor living

Natural light enters mainly through the courtyards, reaching deep into the interior and reducing the house’s dependence on its outer façades. The relationship between solid and empty elements softens the boundaries between enclosed rooms and open areas while maintaining visual protection. In this way, the residence combines openness and privacy through a single architectural strategy.

The central courtyard is a fundamental element: it provides daylight, frames views, and accompanies daily activities. The smaller side courtyard extends this relationship with the outdoors to other parts of the program. Together, both spaces allow the house to feel open and connected to fresh air without sacrificing the occupants’ privacy.

Circulation and spatial experience

The interior sequence relies on long corridors and visual axes that guide the eye from one end of the house to the other. As people move through the residence, views toward the courtyards produce alternating moments of openness, compression, and discovery. Circulation therefore becomes more than a functional connection; it forms part of the architectural experience.

The spatial arrangement also reinforces the project’s role as a meeting place. Common areas can accommodate family members and visitors, while the depth of the circulation routes and the position of the voids help distinguish collective spaces from private ones. The result is a house designed for both vacation stays and permanent family occupation.

Navarro House plans

The architectural drawings help explain the organization of Navarro House across its two levels, the position of the courtyards, and the relationship between the living spaces. The ground-floor plan, upper-level plans, and architectural section complement the photographs and reveal how daylight, interior views, and circulation are integrated into a shared design strategy.

Navarro House was completed in 2022 in Zapotlanejo, Jalisco, Mexico. The architectural project was designed by MRV Taller, and the photography is by Eyes of Memo.