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Esencia is a living extension of Cabo Rojo’s rich landscapes and cultural diversity. This seafront community unfolds organically, weaving through Puerto Rico’s lush scenery with a sinuous, responsive design.
This project is a study in balance between modernity and tradition, architecture and landscape, craft and innovation. It is an invitation to inhabit nature with elegance and authenticity, redefining the essence of tropical modernism.
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At its heart, the hotel emerges from the terrain, its fluid form embracing the contours of the land. The suites, oriented towards the sea, verdant mountains, and intimate gardens, embody a seamless dialogue between built space and nature. The project lines moves softly, and delineates a modular façade that plays with rhythm and depth, juxtaposing solids and voids.
Materiality is the soul of the project, grounding Esencia in its context. Irregular flagstones, slatted wooden panels, and vibrant marbles form a tactile connection to the landscape. Inside each room, a rich tapestry of textures reflects Puerto Rico’s nuances—embroidered textiles, indigenous ceramics, and striking stones compose a sensory journey that brings the local essence indoors.
Esencia was designed with a strong commitment to sustainability and eco-compatibility. Key strategies include a green roof that reduces heat gain and promotes biodiversity, and the use of locally sourced flagstone to minimize transport emissions and grounds the project in its context. Wood is used throughout as a low-impact, renewable and carbon-sequestering material. The architecture is carefully inserted into the existing landscape, enhancing natural ventilation, daylighting, and biophilic experiences.
Esencia is a seafront community in Cabo Rojo that redefines tropical modernism through a deep connection with Puerto Rico’s natural and cultural landscape. Its defining strength lies in the seamless integration of architecture and site. A 100-key hotel anchors the project, its fluid form following the land’s contours and offering views toward the sea, mountains, and gardens. A modular façade plays with rhythm, depth, and light, creating a dynamic interplay of solids and voids.
Materiality grounds Esencia in place—locally sourced flagstones, wooden slats, and vivid marbles connect the architecture to its context, while interiors celebrate Puerto Rican textures through handcrafted textiles and ceramics.
The project extends into 42 villas and 12 hillside dwellings, each shaped to preserve views and enhance natural ventilation. With five unique typologies and open-air living concepts, Esencia offers a refined, immersive experience rooted in biophilia, balance, and cultural richness.
Will Bennett, CEO and managing partner of Three Rules Capital: Esencia is a new community unlike any other in the Caribbean. We are creating a vibrant place to visit, experience, and call home within 2,000 acres of tropical splendour, along breathtaking beaches, amid the magic of Puerto Rico’s west coast. Mandarin Oriental perfectly complements this vision with a signature beach hotel and a stunning collection of expertly serviced residences designed by the visionary Studio MK27.
Studio MK27 located in the chaotic city of São Paulo was founded in the late 70’s by architect Marcio Kogan and today is comprised of 56 members and various collaborators worldwide.
Kogan, an honorary AIA member and professor at Politecnico di Milano, leads alongside longtime partners Diana Radomysler, Renata Furlanetto, Suzana Glogowski, and Mariana Simas. The team is organized into three main squads, with Radomysler heading interiors, Furlanetto and Glogowski leading architecture, and Simas overseeing new projects and communications.
Studio MK27 has received over 250 awards, including WAF, Architectural Review, and Wallpaper* Design Award, and represented Brazil at the 2012 Venice Biennale. The team frequently lectures at institutions like Yale, Cornell, and the Royal Academy of Arts, sharing its vision of architecture as a bridge between tradition and innovation.
