Inspired by the logical (and practically mathematically sound) patterns found in microscopic views of nature, we looked closely at the typical patterns of various woven products. One defining characteristic of the lines generated by these patterns is a certain jaggedness or zigzagging profile that permeates all throughout their surfaces.
We mimicked this characteristic in the building massing, each zigzag carefully recurring according to the width of each hotel room. In the same way the bahay na bato has a floating upper storey, we recessed the ground level from the 2nd and 3rd levels to achieve the same effect. By expressing the structural columnations on the ground floor and concealing it at the upper floor, the building seems to be on stils, like the bahay kubo.
Chevron patterns are employed throughout the different surfaces of the resort structures in the form of wood-planked ceilings and lattice work, to reinforce the main design strategy of weaving. These local inspirations and the selection of indigenous materials such as Mactan stone and adobe, when applied to a minimalistic building massing, achieves an elegant composition: one that has a definite global appeal yet unmistakably Filipino in identity.
Project Team : Principal Architect – Jason Buensalido; Associate Architect / Lead Project Architect – Ems Eliseo, Project Architect – Arvin Gali