The success of a natural building in Costa Rica relies on the right decisions at the right time. It’s essential to find a builder with extensive experience in tropical design, seasoned techniques for using local materials, and a substantial professional network to tap into.
My Consultation Services will provide you with these key elements and connections. I can make the planning and building of your dream natural home an enjoyable process due to this knowledge and one of the best professional networks in Costa Rica.
As a freelance natural builder and traveler, I’ve apprenticed and then worked with the leading natural builders of both Latin and North America. I currently teach natural building workshops and provide consultation to future homeowners. I’ve helped a lot of people avoid the pitfalls and headaches that can come with designing and building a natural home. I also work with people who already own a natural home and are dealing with structural issues due to an initial poor design and incorrect techniques, (situations that, through my consultation services, I aim to help clients avoid entirely).
My overall intention is to secure the reality that naturally built homes are the piece of paradise on earth that every homeowner dreams of. Prospective homeowners can expect an effective, carefully strategized, and enjoyable process when they work with me.
I was born and raised in Costa Rica and it is now my pleasure to help foreigners build natural homes in my homeland. There can be a lot of cultural barriers and challenges when moving to and building in a foreign environment, thus it’s my goal to empower and support foreigners through this process with my technical knowledge, local connections, and natural building expertise.
If you’d like to view my resume, please click this link:
I don’t mean to sound redundant but I do need to emphasize this point: having geographically accurate knowledge, at the right time, is the metaphorical key to making decisions that will guarantee the success of your project while saving you time, money and resources. Navigating the world of natural building in Costa Rica is beautiful but challenging; and it’s absolutely achievable when you have accurate site-specific information before making big decisions and a proper professional network.
To set up an initial consultation please follow these two steps:
Step 1: Click the link below to open the Project Consultation Form, and fill out the survey. Please include all relevant information: the more detailed you can be, the more productive our time together will be. This step has no associated fee.
Step 2: Schedule an Initial Consultation call with Felipe Ortiz. There is a fee of $110 for this service. This fee is non-refundable and includes the time spent reviewing your detailed project information, a one-hour video call, and a follow-up email with relevant resources.
About
FelipE Ortiz
Felipe grew up in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, and is the youngest of the 3 Ortiz brothers. From an early age he was committed to conservation, permaculture, building and sustainable living.
In his early twenties Felipe designed and built Santuario GambaGam with his brothers. GambaGam is a permaculture and sustainability finca, practicing conservation, permaculture and comprehensive education in the south pacific coast of Costa Rica. That building experience, along with a lifetime of living in the tropics and working as a consultant, gave him a deep understanding of how structures, materials and natural building techniques perform best in the Tropics.
Felipe’s work and life experiences have led him to understand the importance of a well designed home and how design can enhance the user's experience.
Costa Rica continues to grow in international popularity and has become a hot spot for foreigners wanting to build their dream homes in a more conscious way. While it is exciting and eco-conscious to build with local materials in another country, there's an even greater need for support with breaking cultural and knowledge boundaries that will arise from this foreign experience.
Many of the myths around the lack of efficiency and long lasting capacity of a natural home come from poor decisions being made at the initial stages of designing a project and the lack of a proper professional network.
While Felipe's professional path has taken him to work in the US for high end conventional custom home builders and natural plaster contractors in recent years, he maintains strong ties in Costa Rica. He still teaches Natural Building workshops in Costa Rica and is determined to help newcomers in Costa Rica.