Synergy Design Studio and Island Art & Framing: architecture and design in tune with the tropical environment

The third largest island in the Caribbean, Jamaica is the setting for the Happy Hour Villa, a high-end holiday home conceived by Synergy Design Studio and designed by Island Art & Framing. The paradisiacal surroundings of the site, the town of Discovery Bay on the country's north coast, were the inspiration for a contemporary architecture and interiors project.

The 1,200-square-meter building has internal environments in total synergy with the island's natural landscape, allowing guests maximum comfort and welcome through environments with fluid transitions and sophisticated finishes, as well as being conducive to staying and resting. Spaciousness and natural ventilation and lighting were priorities.

The proposal prioritized simple lines and noble, natural materials (limestone, wood and porcelain tiles), as well as creating plays of light and shadows and transparency and textures, seeking a harmonious relationship between architecture, design and the natural environment. Among these choices, one natural element stands out in the two-storey house: water.

The protagonist on the first floor is the infinity pool that "embraces" the front of the Happy Hour Villa, allowing a continuity between the water of the Caribbean Sea and the villa, as if there were no interruption between the natural and the built. Several water mirrors that permeate the internal spaces also create this interior-exterior relationship.

With double-height ceilings, the main living room connects the indoor and outdoor areas. The dining room, in turn, opens out onto an external balcony facing the sea. This spaciousness and relationship with the outside also happens in the first floor bedrooms, whose private terraces have direct access to the main living areas. Serving as a link, a large grassy area leads down to the private white sand beach, the cove for swimming or practicing sports and a panoramic viewpoint.

On the upper level, there are bedrooms, a games room, an entertainment area and a spa. The project takes advantage of the unobstructed views of the sea, the sky and the dense tropical vegetation, with all the bedrooms featuring generous terraces and glass openings. The building's glazed façades reinforce this quest for connection with the outside and visual permeability.

‍Central element ofarchitecture

The protagonist of the project, the infinity pool, designed in the Happy Hour Villa, received a sophisticated coating: the Ecoiris product, from the Brazilian brand Vidro Real. This is a 2.5 x 2.5 cm glass mosaic in the color "Sky Blue", which captures and reflects sunlight and allows the crystalline surface to follow and mirror the passing of the day. In the morning, it glows in soft shades of blue, blending in with the natural Caribbean palette; at dusk, it takes on golden hues, reflecting the rays of the sunset on the water.  

The water mirrors were coated with Mattone 7.5 x 15 cm, in a light shade of blue ("Heron Blue"), also from Vidro Real. The choice allowed for aesthetic uniformity and a subtle depth effect, evoking the fluidity of the ocean itself. The products, therefore, were allied with the architecture in the concept of connecting with nature, but also of allowing sensory and visual experiences for guests.

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Photo 1: Happy Hour Villa is a summer house designed by Synergy Design Studio and designed by Island Art & Framing in Discovery Bay, Jamaica.

Photo 2: Water is the central element of the architectural and interior design project, referring to the Caribbean Sea in front of the building.

Photo 3: An infinity pool gives a sense of continuity in relation to the paradisiacal surroundings

Photo 4: The Ecoiris product in the color "Sky Blue", by the Brazilian brand Vidro Real, captures and reflects sunlight.

Photo 5: The water mirrors that permeate the house have also received a product from the Brazilian flooring brand: Mattone in the color "Heron Blue".

Photo 6. Mattone, in the color Heron Blue

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