July 13, 2011

Here’s a house we featured in Urban Zone last month. It was designed and built by father and son architects – Mike and Paul Pena. We’ve shown many of Mike Pena’s work in UZ and all of them have been striking and impeccably done (in Tagalog, pulido).

This house is pretty incredible. It looks like a bungalow from the front, but it actually has four storeys, since the property slopes down dramatically. And to those who will probably ask – I have not included a photo of the facade.

By the front door. Those horizontal slats beside Mike open into a deep wind chamber that allows ventillation in the lower part of the house.

At the foyer. Check out the double doors – it’s a door within a door, much like the ones in old churches.

The beautiful kitchen is completely open to the dining room and to the view of the entire property.

Since the stove is on the island counter, a special wooden casing for the range hood was created.

This is the view from the kitchen – a giant one-piece wooden table (from Indonesia, gosh the tree!) and the view of the surrounding area.

A wide shot of the foyer, kitchen and dining areas.

A modern sungkaan (a traditional Filipino game).

Paul explaining the idea of keeping the spaces open by having vast windows with “no corners.” Another one-piece enormous wooden coffee table.

The upper balcony  (there are several)

I really hate that our wireless lapel mics were broken that day. I had hold this obtrusive microphone. But anyway, this shows one wall of the master bedroom.

Wooden sliding doors with kamagong slats allow the continuous flow of air through the house.

View from the back of the house – showing the pool and the four floors.

Very interesting feature of the swimming pool, a trickling water feature surrounding the jacuzzi.

The infinity pool.

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