Nominally a residential development and land regeneration project, the 494-acre (200-hectare) nature reserve known as Reserva Peñitas has, in recent years, emerged as something more exciting: a hotbed of contemporary Mexican architecture. Peñitas is located two hours west of Mexico City, near the lakeside town Valle de Bravo, itself a popular getaway for the capital’s well-to-do. There, exemplary water conservation practices are often paired with bold experimentation around domestic forms.