PLAYA DEL CARMEN,Mexico - For man.v pe oPle' the( )pportultil\' to r isit a fo|cigrr cotttttrV is

thc ltlretttttrc ol'I lilctirnc. Hclc. lotrget t\\ro-for-one ... ancl that includes

the stone .

The impossible of being in t-nl'o

piaces at onle meets I'ith realitv witl-r

ihc Pla--va dci Carmen-based Pla--va

Associatis' newest condo-hotel, thc ElTai Oceanll'ont, ri hiclr opcncd in

Fet,'uart. Althotrgh located a sltorl

drive dou'n the beach from Cancun on

Mc,rico's Caribbean' tltc rcsort orics its

greatest infltlence to another seaside

orradisc - B;rli.Hclpirrg to pull it .rll togetlrcl arr'l

providing that extra touch of luxurvr,r.rt, J.ann.l: nltttral stotte lrttttriroth Merico rltrd Irtdorrcsi'r'

-- Et Taj C)ceanfiont -the entrre

Plava Associatcs complex' in fact - is a

Perlman and architect Sergio Segura'

Pcrlman, tr New Yorh nativc n'ho

hasr-r't left Plava since beir-rg strandecl

lltct'e tttot'c rlr:rn l5 \cxrs ago' rctttlitts

committed - through d're development

of lbur ;rreviousl.v built luxury condo-

minium complexes - to maintaining dre

to\\''n's charm as a small finishilg village

u'hile stabilizing its tourist economy'

To help do that, he hired Segura'

an ervarcl-wiunilrg designer and t'r part-

ner in Segura and Schreiber S'C'Segu*re explair-rs that he lvas l'ork-

i,-rs d tlic flrm t hrit cottstrrtctcdl.lrln'.,'r'. fir'r btrilding et'forr irl Plavr'

"Mv compan,v suggested that Icome aird meet Jack Perlman," saYs

Segura. "Shortlrt after tl-rat, u'e started

dolng our first building "Ui.rtil tl-rlt time' tire erchitect had

mainl.v specialized in desigr-ring

single-fami-I1' rcsidential units, Partict-t-larh, r'cekend villas.

"Bttt, I had alu'ti1ts rvanted to clo

something right r-rcxt to the sea, and Jack

and I m'atch iach other lvell," he siws' "llabor of iove lnd a testlment to undcr-

star-rding benveen del'eloper ]ack

yucatan delight **Client:Playa Associates,Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Architect:Segura & Schreiber S.C',

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

Contractor:Aventuras Arquitectura Y

Diseno S.A.,

Puerto Aventuras, Mexico

Bali meets the Yucatan in the rich bathroom of

one of the El Tai units. The walls are a Mexican

limestone known as Crema Maya, while the

countertoPs are a Marmol Emperador from

lndonesia. The vessel sinl<s in some of the units

also come from Bali. (All photos courtesy Playa

Associates)

32 t ePnt2olo

CorLtinucd oil Pdge 31

The locally quarried Crema Maya provides a feeling that's light and spacious to the living areas of the units, while the Marmol Emperador lends additionalelegance to the l(itchen countertops (below).

Lrnderstand the style he r,vants and drekind of lr.ork he r,rrants to do. I love doilgthis. We work like a reall,v good team."

Th;Lt's good, because Segura says

Perln-ran is very much hands-on r.r,ithhis projects.

"FIe tells me \\/htlt he u'ants and\\'hat he needs, trnd I interpret that,"

the architcct sa1rs. tc1 present hirn x'ith

mv idcas and aftcr plenw of discr.rssion\\c Jgfce on son)cthilrg VcIr, r'crV nicc.I do the architccture and tlle function-alit1., and he puts in a ver,v goodamolLrlt of tastc ancl enthusiasm.

"Hc's llurrrs at thc constructionsite taking care ofeverv detail," Segura

.:.r r: --l :':l:lll:'..'

adds. "lIe helps a lot."The st_r.le Perln-ian desires is, sa\,s

Segura, a unique one. lle calls it "r,er)tspecial for this place," although it'sexpressed slightlv diffbrently in each ofthe projects.

"For example, the Ma1,x Vil1a is a

little more Mayan in its finishes and inits details," l-re says. "The El TajBeacl-rside and no\v thc El TujOceanfi'ont are basicalll' the same style,but thcrc arc litlle diflcrerrccs itt sontcof the details and in their smaller deco-rations, although both fbel Asian."

Perlman, ll4ro's responsible fbr thcd6cor, brought mal1y of the finish irrticles,such as lurnirure and light fixfi-rres, lromIrrdoncsir, rrrd lhe nvo mcn sce rr Lie-Lt

betrvccn the local Mexican materials andtl-rose from the other side of the giobe.

"If 1,611 go parallcl to d1e equator)you find many places aroturd the r'vorldrvhcle the1, have the same flnishesand tl-re same cultru'e w'hilc sharing rnar1.d-rings in architecture because it's thesame weather," sa\rs 5atatau. "After thou-sands of years, they become somen'hatthe same."

Still, the El Taj Oceanfi'ont alsoborror'vs heavil]'fi'om its orvn localc.

34 t apnr2oro

On some of the interior walls, a local fossil stone provides both color and decoration, as well as durabiliry

similar-looking stone, a cream-coloredlimestone knou'n as Crema Maya.

"It's really like a soft marble, andit's verv local - lrom the peninsllla of

Yucatanr" says the arcllitect. "We'veused that in all the bathrooms. both fbrthe floors and the r.rralls of dre showers.F{ou'ever, for (somc of) the shor'vers,

the floors are a black riverstone aboutthe size of small eggs."

Segura explains that the riverstoneprovides a natllral leeling that's verl,

You're protectingyour inve*tment with

$oap and water?

Mamma mia.

€Fln ltaly, we u$e soap and wat*r t0 clean lhe dishe$, not

our stone counterlops. lnsiead, we created Lustro ltaliano"

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Now evervo*e can care fcr their stone the right way.

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The baths offer a mix of Mexican and lndonesian stone. Although the floor of this shower is finished in the local Crema Maya, others are done in a blacl<

riverstone to provide a passive foot massage for bathers.

healtl-r1, fbr people's f-ee t, and actsalmost likc a mtrssagc.

The same crcam/beigc color

palette shou.'s up again in some ol thebedrooms and in parts of the building'scentral patio, \\rith another local lime-

stone refcrred to as fossil stone becauseof the sea creatllres imbedded in it.

"Again, it's a trer]' tticc, soft

pag1Uign*jkffiF#rLii::L;r"

New leveling cams to hook onto thesteel guide rods. That lasi litlle bit

3l;!i,i""lil,ii1l;J,;, r jff : 1,1

w

The GORILLA GRIP utilizes an electric

vacuurr pump that provides for an extremely

powerful and cons:stent attachment to the

stone, releasing only when you want it to.

Slightly porous tops have little effect on the

GORILLA GFllP. Our new ca$ adiusters

allow your installers to level the searn

perfecily, including tcps with a slight crown.

ffiffiruffiwffiffi?TOOLWORKS

Ine evolufion contrhuss. paralttgn clamprng far sfonf producf$

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sC

38 t epnt2oto

stone," he says. "It's used mainil, 13 n

decoration, but it's not slipperv and thecolor is similar. It just provides a verygood feeling."

Other than the decorative slate onthe exterior of the building, the onlyothcr placc the Indonesian stol)eappears is in the sinks and countertops'

"We used Marmol Emperador forthe countertops in the kitchens and bath-rooms," Segura explains. "The bath-room sinks are made of stone from Bali,while some of the other sinks and thelight fixrures are made of on1x, which is

beautiftil. A11 the stone is done in a

leather finish, so the feeling is verlr niss."In all his stone selections, Segura

adds that developer Perlman lvas look-ing for somedring beautiful and natural.

"The Mexican stone is not thatexpensive, but it's very beautiful," he

says. "In Bali, they have miles of spaces

where people are working with stone.In this case , it r'vas a \rery good place forbr.rying, but it also matches very wellwith our Caribbean style."

!\4rile finding the right stones touse for the project \vxs xlt intportalttpart of the El Taj Oceanfront equation,

finding people to build to Perlmatt'srequired quality r'r'as also critical.

"We started building in the middleof 2008 and llnished in December,"says the architect. "Finding the labor todo thc work ltls bccn very important.Particulariy with the stone, wesometimes had to teach them a litdebit. Or, it r.r'ould break and r,ve'd haveto do it again until we'd get the highquality we want."

Aventuras Arquitectura y Diseno, a

design/build firm from PuertoA\rentllras, Mexico, was hired as thegeneral contractor ltor the project.

Ana Enriquez, an architect withthe firm, says that, as with Segura, itsbackground is mainly in doing residen-tial projects - homes and aPartmentsbut, "We're among the leading buildersaround here."

One of its biggest projects: dre mainconcept for the non-Segura-designedPuerto Aventuras.

l{owever, she adds that the firmwas particularll, pleased to be hired towork on a Segura-designed project.

"sergio is a good architect,"Enriquez says. "We lvere glad to rvorkwith him because of the quality of his

designs."

At the same time, she says thetimeframe, plus the quality of constrtlc-tion demanded by Perlman werechallenges, as was training the con-struction crews to match the Bali lookwith the locally produced materials,such as the stone.

Flowerrer, in the end, Enriquezsays El Taj Oceanfront enhanced thereputation of her firm and, "We wouldlike to do more things with Sergio."

Segura says d.re end result rvas defir-ritely rvorth the extra supervision thejob entailed.

"We realll, had to spend the timedoing the supervision to get the bestqualities for dre job," he says. "Ard, atthc end ol thc dav. our rcpul.rtiorr is

very important."That, and a happy client, and the

architect adds drat Perlman often stops

by his oflice to thank him fbr the finished project.

"For all of us, it was a matter ofteam[rork," Segura concludes. "Wc'rever1, proud of this building because it'suniclue, even in Playa ds1 Carmen.Peoplc herc lil<e iI bccatrsc it represettts

the Playa del Carmen style. It's some-thing very special, really." I

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