Casa Zinc - holidaying in green style

Punta del Este, Uruguay is a very popular tourist resort and lots of chic minimal hotels have been built on the back of this attractive city's huge success. But it also has a little something different,  based on the philosophy of recycling and a warm, friendly ambience: Casa Zinc.



Casa Zinc in La Barra, a fishing village not far from the city of Punta del Este in Uruguay, is a small, charming hotel built by Aaron Hojman, who also owns an antique and vintage shop nearby.





The building boasts the ubiquitous corrugated steel skin so popular in the zone, and hides a series of rooms that have been readapted with a love of detail to accommodate guests, as well as a large courtyard - the consummate community space - also used by the locals to get together, for really integrated holiday.





Aaron Hojman has furnished each of the themed rooms with a mix of recycled materials, vintage pieces and antiques, following the philosophy of the “3 Rs”: Reuse-Reduce-Recycle. The result looks great and is also a tangible sign of sustainability that makes you want to copy the same ideas.





At Casa Zinc this design approach lays the creative foundations to reinvent uses and applications for existing objects, a virtuous example that gets across the idea that being green doesn't necessarily mean you also have to be minimal, if by that you mean the absence of decor and warmth.



Now, we just have to decide which room to stay in - the “Estudio Arquitecto” with its very own drawing board, the library-themed “Biblioteca”, the “Estudio di Diseño” showcasing original Art Déco pieces, the classroom with all the charm of a dormitory - or even one of the rooms overlooking the patio, the green heart of the hotel and consummate meeting place.

Christiane Bürklein

Project: Aaron Hojman
Location: La Barra, Punta del Este, Uruguay
Photography: courtesy of Casa Zinc
Find out more: http://www.casazinc.com/