The Swan House

This unique design of a house is a single level dwelling shelter designed for a small growing family on a 1,200 sqm lot in Quezon City. The core volume of the bungalow starts with a glass box concept blanketed by a secondary protective layer of an insulated weathered steel panel structure with a centrally located inner garden conservatory that is visually open to the sky. Collectively, the sculptural massing, screen panels, transom windows, and the operable glass walls around the house playfully fragment sunlight into many pieces of delicate illumination for the retro interior from guest areas to private quarters. Surrounding the garden conservatory is an integrated environment of 30 sqm open kitchen, 100 sqm of living and dining spaces, one huge master bedroom with walk-in closets and his-and-hers bathrooms, three extra bedrooms with their own toilets, service quarters, home office, sauna, gym, 6 carports, and a gracious expanse of rear gardens and front yard.

Sculpture as Living Spaces is the Concept Behind This Unique House D

Dubbed as the Swan House, this unique house design is composed of a one-folded layout with a weathering Corten-like armor and set into a low-rise, gated community. The architectural approach to a single-level home became the integral objective of the project, allowing a 60-40 spatial ratio between the building footprint and its open spaces. With the idea of compacting what will potentially be built and meeting optimizing openness, the plan went for a square module with a large central courtyard.

Materiality is perceived into four elements. Firstly, glass panels for visual porosity. Second, with structural aluminum profiles establishing the exterior identity. Thirdly, the sculptural skin is protected by the matte copper-like finish, and fourthly, insulated with thermal wool for all-year-round cooling management.

The house’s glass enclosure and entrance walkway are shielded by the tessellated armor that envelops the façade and the entire roof as one mass. This was meant as a metaphorical gesture conveying the dynamic transition from the public to the private realm.

The main corridor divides the layout into a southwestern-to-northeastern axis. Bedrooms are positioned at the cooler sections of the house, while services are located in the warmer sections. A free-flowing and seamless open interior layout balances the compact and defensive exteriors. The central courtyard transforms into a garden conservatory that anchors any circulations in the house.

Six operable 3-meter high pivot doors define the courtyard from the living area to the north and a gym and spa to the south, with bedrooms to the east and kitchen to the west. A skylight is put into place to bathe the surroundings with natural sunlight and vents that allow breezes to penetrate throughout the interiors of the house.esign in the Philippines