How does one even begin to create a space? Is it always designed with form and function in mind? Does it reflect the roots of the company behind it? Does it maximize the elements of nature?
In the case of the Damosa Diamond Tower–an office building that is soon to rise in Davao–PDP Architects built a piece of real estate rooted in the company’s history, one that is very much aligned with nature, specifically agriculture.
Damosa Diamond Tower is a project by Damosa Land, a member of the Davao-based Anflo Group of Companies, which is involved in agriculture, logistics, real estate, and tourism.
“They wanted not just a building but a piece of real estate, a vision for the future, so we understood and delved into the history of the company,” Arch. Cathy Saldaña, CEO and managing director of PDP Architects tells Property Report PH in a recent interview.
Thus, with the company rooted in agriculture, PDP Architects found its design inspiration — the agricultural spirit, visible in the architectural fins and fenestration of the tower, says Saldaña.
When Saldaña talks about the agricultural spirit, she mentions “waves and finding that grid,” reflecting the building’s relationship with light.
Fenestration is the science of putting together windows in a building. Damosa Diamond’s design reflects the tower’s direct relationship with light, she notes.
“The quality of a building is almost always determined by its relationship with light, whether it’s daytime or nighttime. And in this case, we are assuring that the design will look good during the day, receiving as much wonderful sunlight as possible, glowing in that afternoon golden hour. And then, once lit, the architectural lighting will also make it a beacon and a landmark in Davao City.”
Indeed, the architectural fins serve not just the purpose of being angled toward the light, to receive the light and to manage and control it, it also has a second purpose — “it bears the DNA of the company, of the founders’ mission,” says Saldaña.
Dancing with time and light
“And it’s really beautiful to look at and it kind of dances with not just the time of day, but with the color of, say, the sunset facing west, as well as the intensity by which the sun casts its light upon it. That’s what gives it a different character each time. It’s not uniformly drawn, it becomes almost photo dynamic and that, to me, is its best and most elegant feature, serving both form and function,” Saldaña says.
Damosa Diamond is the first Class-A tower of its kind that will rise in Davao and which boasts of sustainable features as well as attributes for green architecture and energy conservation.
Sustainable
“As such, it is a true sustainable building and in being sustainable, it will allow itself to embrace the values of potential tenants and clients and occupants who likewise believe in following sustainability, not just as a feature, or as a trend, or as a fad, but as a design standard for them to build an office in,” Saldaña says.
This is especially important nowadays because people are finding value in wellness, especially in the time of COVID-19.
“People are finding value in health for its occupants, and this building, the Damosa Diamond Tower, takes care of that,” she says.
She noted, for instance, that a lot of Class A tenants from all over the world–mostly multinational and international clientele–are being responsive not just to the current pandemic, but to the future goals of being energy conservators and of understanding exactly how it is to work alongside the management of energy resources.
“As such, coming up with buildings like Damosa Diamond, is not just a trend or a fad, it becomes an answer to the responsibility of architecture alongside real estate, in providing quality buildings for quality companies. You will see this in the U.S, in Australia, in many parts of Europe, in Japan, in Singapore, even in China for that matter, where the whole responsibility of providing a live, work, play space, or in this case, a work space, rests on the real estate solutions,” she said, adding that Filipino tenants have become more discerning too.
Best office architectural design
While yet to be completed, Damosa Diamond Tower already bagged in the 2019 Philippines Property Awards the Best Office Architectural Design award for its distinct sustainability features.
These include a green roof deck, solar energy, LED lights, and exterior fin placement on its façade, which all contribute not just to the aesthetics, but also the functionality and sustainability of the workplace.
Damosa Land is the leading developer of sustainable real estate properties in Mindanao, growing to become a trusted company in terms of developing top quality projects in the region. It is behind the first agricultural metropolis in the Philippines, among other property projects.
Damosa Land is under the leadership of Ricardo “Cary” Floirendo Lagdameo who has been the head of Damosa Land and Anflo Industrial Estate Corp. (AIEC) since 2014. He is responsible for the overall strategic direction for all business lines of the real estate group.
With Lagdameo at the helm, Damosa Land has successfully achieved an annual revenue growth of over 500 percent from 2013 to 2018.
The company has launched several milestone projects in Davao, such as its first agro-industrial estate, its first condominium project, the first flexible workspace solution in Davao, and other mixed-use projects, which include Agriya, the first master-planned agri-tourism development in the Davao region.
