A brief chat with with Roderick Anderson, CEO & Design Director at SARCO Architects. The LX team met with Roderick at his San José based office to talk about the ever changing landscape of today’s architectural services, the design-build process, and highlights of recent luxury home projects.
“Luxury isn’t just about materials and cost. Luxury is about the experience and how it makes you feel… the level of detail, design, execution.”
In this article about Roderick Anderson (SARCO) and luxury architectural services:
- 3 important questions to ask an architect
- Tools you should know about for design-build
- What is the luxury design process and why is it important?
- 2 tips to consider when looking at luxury homes in Costa Rica
- What is SARCO Architects?
- The history behind SARCO
Casa Magayón – international award-winning design and build in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Photo courtesy of SARCO & Andrés Garcia-Lachner.
Three important questions to ask when considering an architect for a luxury home
What are the main tools that you should know about for today’s luxury design-build services?
A luxury design build process has to make the best use possible of digital tools, not just for design, but also for communications, decision-making, documentation, and controls.
What is the luxury design process and why is it important to understand it?
Two tips when looking at luxury homes in Costa Rica
Look at the wood. We live in a tropical climate and wood responds to humidity. In many areas of Costa Rica we have high humidity, so it’s common for the wood to react. When considering a luxury property with wood, pay close attention to any wood that’s misaligned, sticks out, or has a curved
Carefully inspect the windows. You want to understand if the house and windows are designed to seal. If so, check to make sure the windows are not letting any air out. Ask about the glass to see whether it’s single, double, or triple. Check out the frame material and be careful with aluminum which transmits both heat and cold. This is an area where the old saying is true… “the sweetness of low price is long forgotten where the bitterness of low quality remains.”
What is SARCO Architects?
SARCO Architects is a boutique Costa Rica architecture firm that provides high-end design services to build custom luxury homes or multi-family investment developments in the tropics. Although based in San José, Costa Rica, Roderick and the SARCO team design custom, sustainable, modern homes and multi-unit development properties throughout Costa Rica, Panama and the Caribbean. Most frequently, SARCO clients choose to build in highly desirable coastal areas.
A little SARCO Architects History
SARCO Architects was founded in 1972 by Heubert Anderson, handling all types of residential work for local clients. His son, Roderick Anderson, grew up accompanying him to construction sites, building suppliers and even client meetings, eventually following in his father’s footsteps and studying architecture. At the young age of 22, long before he felt ready, Roderick took over his father’s company and continued the tradition of specialty desin-build.
