About

Living and working in the Dominican Republic since 1996, U.S. registered architect Eric Urbahn has more than 40 tropical villa designs to his credit.  Through years of exhaustive research, he has evolved a system for design tailored specifically for this corner of the world.  It is a system that combines grace, strength and ease of maintenance.

In the Caribbean, you live much of your life outside.  The wind can be your best friend, cooling your house in settled weather, but it can also carry away your roof in a tropical storm.  The building must welcome the one, while resisting the other with gracefully concealed structural strength.  It should offer abundant shade and spaces that may be sealed from the outside.  Generous roof overhangs and roof pitches able to shed water in all wind strengths will ensure weather-tightness.  Where possible, every room should invite cross-ventilation while providing the ability to control that airflow.

Urbahn does not believe in building monuments to himself.  Instead, after a thorough examination of a client’s needs when seen against the realities of time and budget, he will create the initial template.  The client-architect team then prioritize space needs and establish their relationship.  Style is introduced and integrated into the developing villa.  Pools, kiosks, walkways, terraces and garden layout add substance to the evolving plan.  Details will hone and complete the whole. What was once a dream will then stand at the threshold of reality.