The second floor plan of the Roque residence shows the house pushed back against two adjacent sides of the lot.
The grand "terraces" flow through the dining area—a raised platform of gleaming narra wood—then swirl by a gently rounded Art Deco column atop a curving base, before turning back sharply and flowing down toward a lower den-cum-television room located in the second curved pavilion. Standing near the front entry, the white column on the mezzanine is the axis of the L-shaped house. From its base the space sprawls outward to the main sala pavilion with its massive curved picture glass window. There the living setting is a showcase for the tropical modern furnishings by the designers of Movement 8.
The outside of the Roque residence was recently altered and modernized along the same organic theme by Layug's business partner, architect Royal Pineda. He reconfigured the landscape from the entrance to the rear garden, removing the jungly waterfall, improving access to the kitchen, and adding a spacious tiled terrace at the back. He also designed a stunning crescent—shaped swimming pool with blue-green tiles which echoes the shape of the curved glass window in the living room pavilion, and which descends to the deep end via three layers of curved steps.
Pineda explains the new landscape: "The swimming pool fronting the house is the first thing that people notice. Following the curvilinear lines of the house, it was made into a crescent shape and wrapped close to the main sala pavilion so that the house could be reflected in its waters. At the entrance to the property, the existing rock formation with a new water fountain is used as a natural point of interest and as a contrast to the new crescent pool." By night, glowing glass pavilions appear to "float" upon the reflective waters of the pool.
Two complementary styles are now evident in the home: Layug's original interior with its terraced stairway flowing among stunning settings, and Pineda's modern crescent pool and terrace that mixes disciplined modernism with a fresh use of space. Together, they form a picturesque home—the inner scheme in harmony with the landscape.
The crescent-shaped swimming pool is a picturesque tour de force by architect Royal Pineda. The custom-made blue-green tiling was manufactured by Manila contractor FNSP.
Pineda's landscaping at the rear of the house opened up the kitchen to a new sandstone tiled terrace. A modular two-level water feature flows gently into the children's wading pool below. Fine bamboo softens the high perimeter wall.
sy house
Ricky S Eleanor Sy
DASMARIÑAS VILLAGE, MAKATI CITY, METRO MANILA
ARCHITECT JOEY YUPANGCO, JY+A
"Light is an element we tend to play with in our projects. Natural light filtering through the house, by way of light voids or punctures, relieves dependency upon artificial lighting during the day. Illumination enhances spatial experience, imbuing spaces with calmness, repose, and inner peace." JOEY YUPANGCO
Well-known modernist Joey Yupangco describes this home in Makati City as "a house like the face of Janus" because it has two very different faces, two orientations. "This time the rear became the front." The original family home was a spacious Filipino-Spanish 1980s bungalow complete with red shingles on the roof and wrought iron over the windows. The challenge for designer Yupangco was to create a contiguous unit within the big old house where a young professional couple could enjoy a lifestyle reflecting their tastes and interests. His design resulted in a radically different modernist unit inserted within the existing framework, sharing the same roof as the original house, but outfitted in a completely different style. The front elevation remains the original family home, but the rear façade reflects the new generation's design interests: functional minimalism, Japanese sensibility, linearity, contemporary materials (aluminum, concrete, and frosted glass), and natural light.
The linear modernist unit was "inserted" in a 1980s bungalow, which is visible over the fence beyond the pool. The new home of glass and steel soars forth, but retains the old stucco roofs with heavy fascia and deep eaves.
The hallways upstairs feature bent glass walls made of aluminum bands and glass panes. The purpose behind the high-tech look is to capitalize on the natural light brought into the narrow volume as well as to replace mass with transparency.
In the sleek living/dining/work area under the mezzanine, industrial glass walls meet concrete floors in a stunning display of functional minimalism. At right is a full wall of storage under translucent slide-away panels. A worktable is cantilevered to the central post.
From the front of the house, the fusion is subtle. A massive plinth in naked concrete is set under the wide roof fascia. The new space then emerges within the old, first glimpsed through the front door as a transformation in space and materials. The space has been deconstructed and rebuilt as a glass-lined, minimalist apartment. What was low-slung and cozy in the 1980s has been reborn long and tall in soaring vertical lines, bathed with light from above, floored with expanses of polished concrete and white stone, and walled with glass paneling from end to end.
The linear interior derives its theme from modern Japanese design, visible in the sliding panels and doors, the aluminum framing on glass, and the "folded walls and ceilings" (smacking of origami) on the upper level. At the center of the double-height atrium, a lofty skylight contains a "suspended sculpture box"—the designer's centerpiece and the main point of visual interest in the duplex—that refracts light falling into the space.
Home owners Ricky and Eleanor Sy enjoy an informal lifestyle, hanging around the open kitchen together or with friends, dining on an extra-long worktable, and listening to music in the audiovisual den. Yupangco deliberately oriented the "social zone" toward the rear, near to the swimming pool, which is set right up against the back fence. "Our lifestyle faces the back yard," says Sy, an IT dealer. "We have the outdoor greenery and pool in view, but there is no garden to take care of!" When guests do step out to view the façade of the "new" house, the old elevation is seen to the right, merged with the grid of steel and glass of the modernist insertion on the left.
At the back of the long apartment, light shines strongly through translucent glass curtain walls. Bold, colorful standing lamps provide the only ornamentation in the sparse space.
The sculptural boxes suspended high up in the atrium are Yupangco's modernist "lamps"—architectural elements designed to both accent the giant skylight and to filter the light pouring into the interior.
"Brutalist" or raw concrete wells—formed in place—and large windows shielded by micro-mesh shades and trees make for an unusual treatment in the master bathroom. The porcelain sinks and the innovative wooden bathtub are by Agape.
The ground floor plan shows the linearity of the site and house.
The lounging area at the rear is where the owners entertain close friends. The spiral staircase which climbs to the bedroom was built by Filipino carpenters who painstakingly beat the stainless steel by hand