Form Follows Family Tradition

A couple’s desire to bring their kids up with family and Asian values shapes a modern home in Manila

- Judith Torres

As a believer of “less is more,” the head of the household wanted nothing “out of this world” for his family’s first home. Since the husband had experience in construction, the wife said she would surrender all design and construction decision-making to him, on one condition: “I said you have to give me storage space for every single thing we own.” Ten years of living in a compact apartment meant keeping a decade’s worth of accumulated belongings on display or in ad hoc containers— not an ideal situation for the wife, a self-proclaimed neat freak.

When the husband hired Singapore-based architect Carlo Joson, he and Joson agreed on a modern brownstone concept— something masculine, boxed, and edgy. The husband’s brief included the need to ensure privacy and security, and to promote closeness within the family—values which resonated with Joson and his Manila-based collaborator, Stephanie Tan-Branquniho, principal of SpaceFabrik, who both also have young children like the clients.

Shelter from surveillance

“The bold and volumetric placement of simple forms creates harmony through its composition,” says Tan-Branquinho about the design she and Joson worked on. Following the mandate for security and privacy, the house reveals little to observers outside about its contents and layout.

Viewers may not detect right away that the home has three levels, as the façade is covered by a large square of travertine flanked by a taller rectangular plane of glass, without tell-tale divisions marking where the three levels start and end.