128 Nivel Hills: A Slice of the Sky | Cebu Daily News | michael banak architect

128 Nivel Hills: A Slice of the Sky | Cebu Daily News | michael banak architect



"The true beauty of the structures is found in their innovative functionality. Located 150 meters above sea level, 128 Nivel Hills takes advantage of the cool sea breeze for year-round natural ventilation. To reduce the heat loads in the buildings, extended balconies on each floor act as environmental sunshades. In effect, even if the sun is at its highest peak, each building remains relatively cool. Additionally, the rounded shape and general orientation of the towers protect them from harsh monsoonal winds and rains. This also permits the maximum use of natural lighting, helping to minimize overall consumption of electricity and encourage an ecologically conscious way of life among its residents."

manila bay hotel | michael banak architect

manila bay hotel | michael banak architect

The Manila Bay development includes 2 Hotel types in the Carlson portfolio of hotels. The 5 star Radisson Blu and 3.5 star Park Inn brands. A unique feature of the design is the Radisson Blu façade overlooking Manila Bay. The sites orientation towards Manila Bay created great opportunities for hotel guests to view “post card” sunsets over the water. The design looked at maximizing the views to Manila Bay, whilst minimizing westerly sun impact on hotel rooms. A pixelated façade screen was developed, mimicking the colours of Manila Bay and acting as a sun screen to reduce the heat loads on the building. The buildings long wavy facade, optimized the number of hotel keys with direct views of the harbour, reflecting the nautical theme of the development.

Client – SM Properties
Location – Manila Bay, The Philippines
Status – Schematic Design 2011
Site Area – 21,228m2
GFA – 40,000m2 (Radisson Blue)
GFA – 14,500m2 (Park Inn)
Keys – 276 (Radisson Blue)
Keys – 344 (Park Inn)
Heights – 9 to 12 levels

vertical garden living in the heart of ayala centre

http://www.michaelbanakarchitect.com.au/architecture/vertical-garden-living-in-the-heart-of-ayala-centre-2/

Ayala Land Premier’s Garden Towers Residential Development lives in the heart of Makati’s retail district. Crone Partners design for 2 towers, 61 and 53 levels respectively and housing approximately 680 residences in 2012.

Key environmental features of the design, endemic to the Crone Design Methodology include; Flexible sun rooms, sky gardens, green walls, extensive landscaped amenity areas and spectacular Garden Lobby Drop-off.

The photograph below shows early ground works on site, due for completion 2017. The first phase of the development will see Tower 1 and podium built, with a total GFA of 60,000m2 and 320 apartments.

 

Vertical Garden Living in the heart of AYALA Centre

Ayala Land Premier’s Garden Towers Residential Development lives in the heart of Makati’s retail district. Crone Partners 2012 design incorporates 2 towers, each 51 storeys and housing 340 residences.

Key environmental features of the design, endemic to the Crone Design Methodology include; Flexible sun rooms, sky gardens, green walls, extensive landscaped amenity areas and spectacular garden lobby drop-off.

The photograph below shows early ground works on site, due for completion 2017. A room with a view taken from the Holiday Inn in Makati.

2 top firms to develop high-end Nivel project | Sun.Star

2 top firms to develop high-end Nivel project | Sun.Star

Jewelry magnates team up for condo venture in Nivel | Cebu Business, The Freeman Sections, The Freeman | philstar.com

Jewelry magnates team up for condo venture in Nivel | Cebu Business, The Freeman Sections, The Freeman | philstar.com

Crone Partners Iconic Residential Apartment development located in Cebu started its marketing campaign yesterday. 128 Nivel Hills is a premier grade condominium project worth P4.9 billion for the client Diamond Hiland Inc. The prestigious 2 tower development, will be a striking form on the city skyline, with "twisting oval' balcony forms adorning the facades.

pearl river commercial tower china

Crone Partners worked on the Design Competition for a commercial office tower in China, with a local firm based in Guangzhou, named IAPA. Unfortunately we did not win the project but the experience, designing a major tower in the city and travelling to Guangzhou was memorable.

The project was run by the Guangdong Tobacco Company. Considering the project promoted good Environmental Sustainable Design it seemed a little strange to be working for a Tobacco Company client.
The project was located in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, near to the Pearl River, about 120km North West of Hong Kong. Guangzhou is known as a key transportation hub and trading port for the country of China.

The concept was based on the idea of duality. A situation prevalent in nature, having 2 states, that are complimentary or opposed to each other. The idea of duality is clear in the massing of the tower, the relationship between solid and void, lightness & darkness, private versus public spaces and the clear separation between vehicular and pedestrian movements.

The project is made up of a 68 storey, commercial office tower, with convention centre facilities, restaurants and speciality retail outlets. Four levels of basement car parking are located below ground, including a loading dock and a combination of stackable and conventional car parking spaces, to maximise efficiency and minimise basement excavations, due to the water table. The total GFA for the project is 170,185m2.

The 290m tall tower is orientated towards park views and desirable, southerly aspect, for warm winter sun access.

The tower project was designed using Environmental Sustainable Design principles to minimize the energy consumption of the building and to conserve water usage. A combination of passive and active environmental strategies was used in the areas of; Energy, Water, Transportation, Land Use and Ecology, Indoor Environmental Quality, Management, Materials and Emissions.

I like the photo below of the "little" model we had made for the competition.

 

arya residences. a new green direction for the philippines

The Arya Residences is located on Mckinley Parkway, Bonifacio Global City in the Philippines. The site is approximately 30 minutes drive from Makati CBD. Arya is a twin tower, high rise development, with over 640 premier grade residential apartments and 500 car spaces. The project has a GFA of 76,300m2. Facilities in the development include; 24 hour concierge, retail, health club, spa, gymnasium, pool and private library. Tower 1 is currently under construction and due for completion in 2013. The Arya Residences is the flagship project, for ArthaLand Corporation and designed by Crone Partners in 2009.

The development creates a lifestyle community with the mantra “live, work and play”, providing facilities and amenities convenient to the resident, encouraging people to stay “at home”, because everything you need isat your doorstep. The site is in close proximity to the High Street shopping boulevarde, schools, markets, parks and health care facilities.

The architecture is modern and responsive to the environment, with strong sustainable design initiatives. The Arya Residence is targeting both a US LEED "Gold" rating and PhilGBC BERDE Rating. Arya is the first residential building in the Philippines to apply for a dual green building certification, challenging popular culture in the Philippines.

The Arya residence recently won “Best Residential Development” in the Philippines at the 2012 South East Asia Property Awards and is being praised by local and international markets, for promoting green buildings.

Crone Partners has been given great support from Austrade, both in Australia and in the Philippines. This has also included introductions and keen interest, from Australian Ambassador in the Philippines, Mr Bill Tweddle.

Images of tower 1 from our Schematic Design presentation below.

AYALA Land look to Australian Architectural firm for an edge in the market - Garden Towers located in Makati, Philippines

Garden Towers, is a twin tower residential development, located in the heart of the Makati retail district, in the Philippines. The project consists of residential, retail and basement car parking levels. The towers were designed by Crone Partners, for AYALA Land Premier, in 2012. The premium grade residential towers, are 51 and 60 levels each, with a total gross floor area of 127,000sqm. The site area is 9,000m2 and the first tower was launched late 2012. The first tower has 340 apartments in 1 bed, 2 bed, 3 bed and 4 bed configurations and at the “soft launch” in Makati, 35% of apartments were sold off the plan. Most popular to sell, have been the 2 and 3 bedroom apartments.
Special features of the design, include a garden lobby that connects the towers at the Porte Corche drop-off. An internal private garden for residents, connects the site to the Glorietta Shopping precinct and Palm Promenade dining strip. Sky gardens are located at every fourth level of the tower, providing framed vistas from corridor spaces and areas of respite for residents in a garden environment. Sun Rooms are a feature of the apartments, allowing balconies to be extensions of the living spaces, throughout the year.