November 7, 2019

Female Design Team Brings Tropical Modernism to Costa Rican Fashion Boutique

The team painted ombres in tropical colors across the stucco exterior. Photography by Andres Garcia Lachner.

San José’s Hija de Tigre boutique isn’t just a destination for fashionable Costa Rican women—it’s owned and run by them, too, namely a mom and her two daughters. What’s more, its new 4,850-square-foot space also had a female designer: Taller KEN lead architect Inés Guzmán, whose team brought a fresh sense of tropical modernism to an existing structure located in the city’s cool Escazú suburb.

The bright yellow exterior staircase is powdercoated steel. Photography by Andres Garcia Lachner.

The design added new concrete volumes, devising a color-coding scheme to link them to older structures; the team also added an exterior elevator core and exterior stairs, and removed moldings from the façade for a cleaner look. Reflective window coverings conceal storage areas. On the inside, a custom mosaic floor covers the first level, while the second level features two-tone geometric pink flooring, and black and white terrazzo jazzes up the formal third floor. Custom millwork in dark honey offsets the mostly pastel palette.

On the second floor, a sofa and tables by Altea Design stand on a custom encaustic cement tile floor. Photography by Andres Garcia Lachner.

“We’re proud of the fact that the design team was almost entirely female,” says co-principal Greg Melitoniv, “including the illustrator of the mural behind the cash wrap, the millwork and display provider, and the lead contractor.” Women creating spaces for women? It’s a good look.

The custom floor is made from porcelain shards. Photography by Andres Garcia Lachner.
Dressing areas on the second floor are defined by custom drapery by Casa Estilo, which also manufactured the fabric wall treatment. Photography by Andres Garcia Lachner.
The third floor’s display tables are powdercoated metal topped with black quartz and stained plywood beneath exposed LED tubes with coiled wiring. Photography by Andres Garcia Lachner.

Read more: Three Studios Interprets Rococo Masterpiece for Ayla Boutique in Lebanon

Recent Projects