Seattle architecture studio Hybrid and Mexico City-based Palma have created a hotel called NICO Loma Alta that features elements of brutalism and vernacular architecture.NICO Loma Alta is located in Sayulita, a bohemian surf town an hour north of Puerto Vallarta, in the Mexican state of Nayarit.

With its exposed concrete frame,NICO combines elements of local architecture and building techniques with nods to both brutalism and tropical modernism.From the residential street,the building registers as a two-floor structure;but from behind, the whole five-level, open-air grid structure can be seen.

It has five guest suites designed to open to the surrounding landscape with floor-to-ceiling iron windows and private terraces.NICO offers a unique lodging environment where each space has been thoughtfully designed for people to experience the distinctive surroundings and connect with each other in spaces that sit within a varied gradient of privacy and openness.Some of the suites are open to the treetops and ocean, while others are oriented towards the area's tropical foilage.

The communal area features a spacious full kitchen,a lap pool detailed with artisanal turquoise-coloured tile,and a powder room splashed in pink-stained stucco.There is also a rooftop level with a plunge pool offering spectacular views framed by concrete beams.Furnishings throughout NICO celebrate local culture and materiality with work by emerging Mexican designers and artists including Roberto Michelsen and Diego Hernández Beauroyre, among others.