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About
A focused studio, not a generalist firm.
Materia Studio designs one kind of project: custom homes built around prefabricated round-home structural systems.
Circular structures don't behave like rectangular ones. Room placement, door and window coordination, loft headroom, and foundation planning all require different thinking than a conventional home.
Repeated experience designing within the same structural systems means fewer surprises and better-resolved details for every project.
Our philosophy
Clear, buildable drawings matter more than dramatic renderings. We aim for designs that are honest about tradeoffs — what a round structure makes easy, and what it makes harder — so clients can make informed decisions instead of discovering constraints mid-construction.
Founders
Iván González
Architect, licensed in Costa Rica
Iván believes the best spaces are defined by clarity, proportion, and respect for their surroundings. His work pairs technical precision with a considered design sensibility, aiming for homes that feel timeless rather than trend-driven. He approaches each project as a chance to work through complexity until the architecture is thoughtful, durable, and genuinely suited to the people living in it.
Marisol Baeza
Architect, licensed in Costa Rica
Marisol's work is guided by the idea that architecture should enrich everyday life. She focuses on spaces that feel warm and calm, where beauty and function work together rather than in tension. Her approach is collaborative and detail-oriented, aimed at homes that are as meaningful to live in as they are to look at.
How we work
We work remotely with clients across the United States, coordinating drawings, site information, and engineering input over video calls, email, and shared documents. Where local review or site visits are useful, we coordinate with local professionals as needed.
Working with Smiling Woods Yurts
Materia Studio is an independent architectural design studio. We are not Smiling Woods Yurts, and we do not manufacture, sell, ship, or construct round-home structural kits. A significant portion of our work is designed around kits manufactured by Smiling Woods Yurts, and that focus has shaped how we think about layout, coordination, and buildability.
Ready to start the conversation?
Every project starts with understanding your site and how you want to live. Let's talk.