Tall & Urban News

Foster + Partners has revealed the design of the BWDC Residential Tower, a luxury apartment building in Manila. The new tower combines the city’s vernacular architecture and traditional veranda lifestyle with modern high-rise living. The project is the firm's latest in the tropics which responds to the regions’ intense weather systems, mitigating high temperatures and humidity through passive design strategies.

Each apartment in the 45-story tower has a wraparound veranda which is protected by large roof overhangs, sheltering tenants from Manila's extreme climate. The building is designed to provide residents with 270-degree views of the Manila Golf & Country Club and Manila Polo Club, a 60-hectare green lung in the center of the city. At the ground level, the project extends the greenery of the adjacent park, and provides shaded spaces for the local community. Upon reaching the building, residents walk across a tree-lined avenue, arriving at an elevated drop-off with views over the park. At the entrance, private lifts are housed in a semi-detached external unit, which introduces natural ventilation and daylighting to the lift lobbies.

Each apartment measures around 550 square meters and covers the entire floor of the building. The scheme aims to achieve Green Mark Platinum. Wraparound, semi-external verandas act as thermal buffers and protect the interior spaces from direct solar radiation. The building’s windows are operable to achieve cross ventilation to all units. Deeply recessed clerestory windows are also design to reduce sky glare and allow daylight into the units. In addition, a highly efficient centralized chilled water supply system enables cooling at all other times. 

For more on this story, go to Arch Daily.