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space matters: the heirloom manila

History is one feature that things from the past can boast of—the stories from the generation where it came from, and the patina that chronicles its journey to the present. This is the same element that renders a nostalgic appeal to The Heirloom Manila.

Design folder found this little Intramuros at the heart of Quezon City. Home to the Juco family, Heirloom Manila proves that old is, without a doubt, beautiful.

Built in the 1970s, the architecture is designed by Noli Bernardo, an architect who is known for designing churches, such as the St. Peter’s Church along Commonwealth Ave. in Quezon City. The property’s site is rich in adobe. This made it possible to extensively use it as the main building material throughout the house. The structure’s adobe stone construction gives the architecture its Spanish Colonial look coupled by the familiar church details, such as the gargoyles on the façade, the arched doorways, and the ornate wrought iron gates, that Arch. Bernardo usually integrated into his religious designs.

The outdoors is a fresh composition of lush tropical plants, mossy stone walls, and old kalesa wheels that, together, create an old world setting. However, the garden is not only meant to be ornamental. In fact, many of the species planted around the house are edible—lemon, thyme, turmeric, ginger, and lemon grass, to name a few. Most of them are potted on stone-like containers made of recycled plastic bins and worn-out refrigerator compartments that are simply covered with roughly finished cement to simulate stone.

To our surprise, no landscape architect was hired to design the gardens. It was all made by the artistic hands of Mr. Juco. He says that his art comes from innovating and making something out of what is available. He believes in recycling and transforming “waste” into a useful and more appealing object. His projects are found everywhere in the house, from the cement-covered plant containers, and the outdoor table that has a base made from an electric fan stand, to the spiral tendrils that decorate the exterior gates, and the round gate valve handles that were made into the knockers of the red garage gate.  

The nostalgic theme continues into the interiors. The furnishings and décor follow the “old house” theme such as the grand father’s clock and the antique piano in the living room as well as the family’s collection of antique jars and santos that are displayed high up the walls.

Early this year, the Juco family opened their house, The Heirloom Manila, to the public as an atypical venue for concept photography and small gatherings by artists, musicians and horticulturists. The Intramuros-like atmosphere with its rich texture and bold color accents against its rustic setting make Heirloom Manila a favorite venue for pre-nup and fashion editorial shoots.

 Andrew & Doris by Paul Vincent Photography

Jayson & Mary Tess by Nep Almonina Photography 

Alan & Tina by Francis Gil of Pat Dy Photography

Mike & Jackie by Split Image Digital

We love how the place provided a romantic backdrop for these pre-nup photos! With all the different areas of the house, you cannot run out of interesting locations and angles. Best of all, everything is within the home’s compact surroundings.

For more information (and pictures!), you can visit their multiply site or add them on facebook.

space matters: a casa in metro manila

It all started with the acquisition of a comoda. The owner of this uniquely Filipino home started collecting antiques after falling in love with a single beautiful piece. We love how he turned his antique collection into a passion for recreating a 19th century Vigan-style bahay na bato right in the middle of the country’s busiest city.

Guided and inspired by Felice Sta. Maria’s Household Antiques and Heirlooms and Philippine Ancestral Houses by Fernando Zialcita and Martin Tinio, Jr., he collected materials and furniture from old houses in Ilocos and Binondo and from junk shops and garage sales to build his family’s dream house.

His wife left all design decisions to him but requested that he keep flamboyant and ornate carvings and details to a minimum. And it looks like he granted her wish. There are a number of intricate elements in the space but they don’t feel overpowering. The home is airy and light – true to the characteristics of an authentic bahay na bato.

There were just too many interesting details, like this medieval-looking Christmas décor in the picture below (inspired by Elton John’s collection of Philippine antique santos)  that fit the old world feel of the house, that we couldn’t fit them all in one post.

Watch out for the second part where we’ll show you the different furniture pieces and accessories that make this home unique. We’ll also share with you in the coming weeks this experienced homeowner’s guidelines on collecting and maintaining antiques.

i saw design: ang pinakamagandang bahay sa balat ng lupa

Green Guide told us about this exhibit in UP Theater culminating the design competition entitled “Ang Pinakamagandang Bahay sa Balat ng Lupa” (The Most Beautiful House on the Face of the Earth). It showcases the winning designs for both the Student and Professional categories, as well as other remarkable entries. A joint project of the UP College of Architecture and Lafarge Semento Pilipinas, the competition aimed to redefine the concept of “the beautiful house”. With a focus on sustainable architecture, entries provided complete architectural designs for a medium-income house to be built on a 200-square meter lot inside the UP Diliman Campus.

Apart from the green strategies that the winning entries consciously incorporated into their respective designs, I also noticed that they all came up with interesting forms for the architecture of the house. I think it was from the book Green Architecture (sorry I forgot the author. Maybe you can help me, Green Guide?) where I read that green designs should not only propose sustainable design techniques and strategies, but should also provide a new face, a new aesthetics to accompany the philosophy. The new visual form makes it easier to promote to everyone the concept of sustainability by becoming a symbol for the message, as well as a source of inspiration.

(The winners for the Professional Category, from left to right: Borloloy House by John Patrick Buensalido, et. al.; EcoKubo by Nestor Arabejo, et. al.; and [X] House by Jose Eduardo Calma, et. al.)

I agree with the judges’ pick for the first place. What I love about its design is its unique form–unpredictable, sculptural, and organic.

(The winners for the Students Category, from left to right: Tulad ng Dati House by Laurence Angelo Angeles, et. al.; Pinakamagandang Bahay by Mark Angelo Virtucio, et. al.; and Cube-O House by Deneice Yuson and Zada Ong.)

Among the winning designs for the Student Category, I especially like the Cube-O House. I can imagine the trellis filled with flowering white thunbergia!

The PMBBL exhibit runs until Oct. 23, Friday, at the Forefront Gallery of the UP University Theater.

*images of the winning entries are from the PMBBL monograph

conscious living : cool spaces 01– proper orientation

A green space is a space that is built with the local climate in mind. Our country is a tropical climate. And one of the major difficulties of tropical climates is cooling interior spaces.

Cooling a space mechanically generally takes up as much as 50 percent of the electricity bill. By cutting down on your use of the air-con, not only do you save energy and money, but also any greenhouse gases that may have been emitted by the production of electricity. This series looks at the various ways of being comfortable without turning on the energy.

Proper Orientation

One of the best tools you can apply to your space is a compass. Finding the orientation (where the north, east, south and west) of the space will help a lot in identifying, literally, the hot spots.

For our country, the sun (the major source of heat) travel, most times of the year, from east to west in a southern path everyday. From that alone, at any time of the day, three out of four sides of your space is exposed to the direct rays of the sun. Plus, the tropical sun, coupled with the thinning ozone layer and little cloud cover, can be quite intense. The sun can be found at the east in the morning, south at noon, and west in the afternoon. That leaves north as the coolest part.

Diagram by Arch. Stanley Fernandez

Let’s say you’re building your dream house. You place at the north side of your home the important spaces or rooms you spend the most time at during the day. It can be the bedroom or the den. You can place large window facing northwards, assured that no direct sunlight shall enter that room. (The absence of direct sunlight does not necessarily mean dark spaces. The intensity of the tropical sun can light up spaces indirectly.)

It’s also a lot easier if you want the space cooler because you are not starting from a higher temperature. An additional fan (that coincidentally uses a lot less energy than an air-con) may be all that’s needed.

You normally want to put the service areas at the hot parts (east and west) of the house. That can be the kitchen, laundry, bathroom or other spaces you spend time in fleetingly.

So, save up on future energy costs by just finding the right places for your spaces.

Next: proper orientation; maximize openings; cross ventilation; stack effect

space matters: apple and jesse’s home

Our first feature is interior designer Apple de Guzman’s startup home. In her own words, she explains the concepts behind its design:

When we were planning for the house, our goals were simple, practical, and straightforward. My husband and I wanted a home that would suit our needs—a simple, functional, comfortable yet safe for the family, especially for the kids. We wanted a house that had a lot of natural lighting and good air ventilation.

Being the cook in the family, my husband wanted a good-sized kitchen space.  We had only one child that time but we built bedrooms for us, our son and a future daughter, which we eventually had.  I also wanted a den which could double as a home office at the ground floor.  Storage is another requirement that we consciously integrated throughout the house.

When we were designing the house, Mediterranean homes were very popular, so there is a hint of that in the facade.  We didn’t like bright Mediterranean colors, though, so we opted for muted earth tones. Being the interior designer, I was on top of everything, from design to construction, down to furnishing and decorating the interiors. But my husband, Jesse, also collaborated with me. In fact, he did the general layout of the house. I only improved on it as we went along.

Because my husband and I are both from UP, we naturally wanted some Filipino features and textures. We used clay bricks to clad the front columns and the foyer wall, reminiscent of the Spanish Colonial bahay na bato.  We also used an indigenous material called arurug for the lanai’s high pitched ceiling together with solid Yakal posts, giving the outdoor space a resort-like atmosphere. We were fortunate to “inherit” some old Filipino furniture from a cousin who migrated to the US, adding to the Filipino character of the interiors. There’s the galinera in the foyer, the escritoryo under the stairs and the solid wood dining table at the lanai.

We opted for a high ceiling in the living room to give the illusion of space and to bring in a lot of natural light. For maximum ventilation, we used large casement windows in the ground floor since we knew that installing an air conditioner for the public areas is out of the picture.

The narrow balcony at the second floor, connecting the bedrooms on both wings, allows us to see what’s going on in the ground floor from the second level.  From that same spot, a glimpse of the Antipolo mountain range could be seen through the clerestory windows across.

The design approach for the bedrooms is both practical and personal. The strategic location of the masters’ bedroom gives us a good vantage point of our gate to see who comes in and leaves the house. The space has a minimalist arrangement, avoiding possible visual clutter, to maintain a relaxed ambiance. But we were more “adventurous” with the kids’ rooms. Aside from using color for the walls, we also added wall patterns, done by my sister and a couple of friends, for a more upbeat look.