UPDATE: Sept 20, 2008

The foundation done, the cement for posts and beams of the ground floor have been poured and are being cured. What's mostly visible within the project area right now is wood, used as formworks that hold the cement in place.


View of the future utility that will lead to the kitchen.  A wall will be constructed around this area.

A view of the annex (The Half) from the second floor of The Cube.

A ramp was constructed beside The Cube for the cement mixer.

A shot of the annex from Mama's old garage.

The facade of the The Cube.

MORE HERE...

UPDATE: Sept 2, 2008

Cube 1's opening that would have 6 glass doors facing the courtyard.

Shot of the The Half's facade facing the courtyard and The Cube.

View of what will be a private garden for the room on the ground floor of The Half.  An outdoor shower would be nice :-)

Shot of the future driveway.

View from the driveway.  We were able to save trees!  Beyond the trees is the private garden for the bedroom on the ground floor of The Half.


Another shot of The Cube's opening to the courtyard.

Shot of the annex (The Half) from Mama's old garage.

.

MORE HERE...

The Half

Here are top shots of the annex called The Half, its dimensions are roughly half that of the Cube.

Floor plans....



MORE HERE...

Cube and a Half

Approved sketches of the new and finally, FINAL design!
Cube 1:

A VIEW FROM THE STREET


A VIEW FROM THE COURTYARD, which separates Cube 1 from Half Cube. Cube 1 is the main house, with living and dining rooms, kitchen, maids' quarters on the ground floor and the master's suite on the second floor.





MORE HERE...

Was it worth it?

We finally agreed on the design (the one I posted before this entry). Benjie, Mama and myself went through several discussions on the details of the design and even had a couple of sessions with Fabian, our contractor. We proceeded to having the design cost estimated by Fabian. When he reverted back to us two weeks later, I was a bit surprised.

While I admit that I am not updated with the running cost of building a home, I was working on certain clear and fair assumptions: labor would be cheaper in the province, design was as simple as a modernist structure can get, and therefore the materials would be relatively cheaper. I had also pegged construction cost at a fair P10,000/sqm., way below Manila standard. The cost was above what I had expected yet Fabian and Benjie reminded me that I should be including the roofdeck in the total cost of the floor area. The roofdeck was something Mama wanted as it has become a fad in the province. Personally, I feel that a roofdeck is good only if you have a great view of the sea or some landscape, which my mom’s neighborhood doesn’t have. But we threw in a roofdeck nevertheless

I stepped up back a bit and reviewed the design: was it worth the cost? MORE HERE...

Penultimate Floor Plans

Here are the floor plans of the house design I uploaded earlier. The ground floor as a different access from the second floor, as we had agreed. This would address security issues for my mother's living space.





MORE HERE...

Penultimate?

We finally settled on this design, which I thought solved several problems, part of which was to accommodate a bed and breakfast that Mama had wanted. Our school offers courses on Hotel and Restaurant Management and Mama was thinking of putting up a lodging place for students to put to practice what they've learned. My concern would be the security of the private space that Mama and her household would occupy. So this design is very similar to the old house wherein the residential space is located at the second floor, with the commercial space on the ground floor. Of course, part of the brief was to have a modernist looking structure, which I think was achieved in this design. Another element requested by Mama was a roofdeck. 

MORE HERE...

The new (and hopefully final) Site.

Plans were changed once more based on inputs and we decided to have the structure run along the west end of the property. This way, the remaining area of the property, adjacent to the old house would allow for possible future commercial expansion.  This would also maximize the use of the rear end of the property.  So we set out to do some more(!) design studies for this layout.

MORE HERE...

Study 4: Residential/Commercial (front end of the property)

Then there was a discussion: what if the structure ran perpendicular to the road, alongside the front end of the property? That way, Mama's living space would be on the second floor, and the rentable space on the ground floor, very much similar to the present set-up at the Moore Residence.  The upside to this is that revenue from the commercial space will offset the cost of the building more quickly.  There was also the impression that my mother would be safer if she had easy access to the road, in case some emergency situation happens in the house.  But then,  the Feng Shui expert told me that given the year, a structure built that way favoring the North and South sectors should only start construction next year.  Then my friend Caloy, barged into a discussion with Benjie regarding the property and simply offered his point of view:  a house running alongside the street doesn't look gracious enough.  A structure that has a little privacy is more genteel.  The powerful combination of the Feng shui master and Caloy did the trick.   Again, I scrapped the design.

MORE HERE...

Study 3: Everything considered (Rear end of the property)

MORE HERE...