Program and performance dictated the form and materiality that was used for the house – to create a residence that is adapted to the tropics within its urban setting. Situated in an exclusive community south of Manila, the house was driven by the idea that it should be for the tropics – responsive to its climate and accommodating its socio-cultural context.
Studio Name: HANDS
Design Team: Yonni Habulan, Maricris Ngo, Cyrus Javellana, Dennis Javier
Floor Area: 900 SQM
Year: 2020
Location: Muntinlupa City, Philippines
Photography Credits: HANDS
As a tropical abode laid out pragmatically on a corner lot, it harnesses daylight and natural
ventilation deep into the building’s core – through its spatial organization of juxtaposed volumes. The resulting form was a translation of the program brief as well as its informed response to climate, behavior, orientation, circulation, and the urban fabric.
A sculptural plaza was created as an engaging entry point to the house. Laid out as interlocking volumes, it provides an interesting procession from public to private space.
To lessen heat gain within the house, open pockets and ventilation screens were introduced. The main living spaces were designed to seamless permeate from each other, both horizontally and vertically.
The open layout of the house allows for continuous movement from the interiors to the exteriors. At its spatial core, the main living and dining space boasts of a two-storey high ceiling space with operable louvered windows, effectively cooling the indoor environment.
Articulated screens were placed at strategic locations to further cool the house. The perforations of the screens were parametrically created for optimum performance.
The pool is integrated to the house – one only needs to step out to feel the calmness of the water. Overhanging planes, cantilevers, and a rich interplay of textures and materials were used to create controlled visual diversity. Elements were designed to provide a tropical aesthetic driven by understanding behavior and context.
HANDS – HABÚLAN AND NGO DESIGN STUDIO CO.
HANDS – HABÚLAN AND NGO DESIGN STUDIO CO. is a collaborative architectural design practice operating within the fields of Architecture, Research, and Design. The Studio’s architecture emerges through a careful analysis of the constant evolution of contemporary life that results to new methods of architectural organization and sustainability processes.
This gives the architecture the ability to take a fresh look at design issues – regardless of the scale or typology. Through this process, the Studio is able to work on a diverse list of projects – from cultural, institutional, residential, commercial, and master plan developments.
Through constant development of rigorous methods of analysis and execution, HANDS is able to combine innovative thought processes and efficient production strategies. The Studio’s constant collaboration with different stakeholders allows to investigate diverse issues with a broader perspective. As a result, creative endeavors produce independent and tailor-fit solutions.
Three Core Agendas Dictate The Studio’s Direction
INNOVATION
INNOVATE THROUGH CRITICAL THINKING
The Studio aims to create experiential environments suited to its clients and contextual fabric: achieved through research-driven design and constant exploration of form and space. The drive for innovation fuels our practice to consistently explore the infinite possibilities of formulating a solution to any design and planning issue.
COLLABORATION
MULTIDISCIPLINARY SYMBIOSIS
Forms are not derived from previous norms, but through the outcome of careful collaboration and constant creative evolution. Each project is a result of a multidisciplinary process ensuring an efficient and balanced outcome.
FILIPINO TRANSLATION
TOWARDS PROGRESSIVE EVOLUTION
As a Studio that believes in the cultivation and progression of Philippine Architecture, we endeavor to translate the clients’ briefs into modern interpretations of the idiom. This strategy is driven, not through reproducing past references, but through deep understanding of the sensibilities that determined those references – and carefully adapting these to mold the present. Architecture thus becomes adaptive, progressive, and responsive to its local and cultural setting. HANDS is led by its founding partners, Yonni Habulan and Maricris Ngo.
Their aspiration to create programmatic and technically innovative Architecture drove them to create HANDS. Functioning as a design laboratory, HANDS provided the platform to explore the infinite possibilities of Design as it transcends socio-cultural an economic issues – while steadily pushing the formation of a new archetype of Philippine Architecture.
