Selva

An 87-hectare neighbourhood plan above Playa Venao, Panama, with a road network and 218 lots laid out in response to on-site study of terrain, view corridors, drainage, and prevailing breezes.

Selva sits in the hills above Playa Venao, Panama — one of the Pacific coast's most celebrated surf destinations. Inverse Project was engaged for the land planning and design guidelines for a new ecologically-planned neighbourhood across 87 hectares of mixed forest and pastureland. The process began on horseback: multiple days riding the land at different times of day to understand the terrain from the inside — the slopes, the view corridors, the prevailing breezes, the natural drainage lines, the opportunities hidden within the topography.

From that study emerged a road and services network that follows the land rather than imposing on it, subdivided in accordance with Panamanian regulation into 218 lots ranging from 1,250 to 5,000 square metres. The site is organised into six distinct Eco-Neighbourhoods, each with its own character and a set of communal amenities suited to its features — hilltop, ridge, forest edge, and river. A comprehensive set of design guidelines governs future development across all lots, ensuring the architecture that follows will be coherent with the landscape and climate. The greenhouse and tree nursery at the entrance celebrates the project's ecological intent from the moment of arrival.