Inspired by contemporary tropical architecture suited for resort-style residential settings, property giant Megaworld will build its first upscale residential village inside the 140-hectare Maple Grove township in General Trias, Cavite.
Speaking at the media launch held in General Trias, Cavite last May 26, Megaworld first vice president for sales and marketing Eugene Em Lozano unveiled the construction of the Andrew Tan-led company’s 22-hectare Maple Grove Park Village—offering 377 lots, ranging in size from 280 square meters up to more than 500 sqm.
“Maple Grove Park Village mirrors the feel and ambience of luxury spa resorts to create an oasis of wellness, where residents can enjoy the freedom to unwind despite their busy everyday schedules,” Lozano said.
The entire Maple Grove is considered as Cavite’s first-ever modern central business district as it features residential condominiums, office towers, a soon-to-rise lifestyle mall, and a transport hub.
According to the property developer, the township project is expected to generate P6.5-billion in sales. The lots will be ready for turnover to owners by 2026.
Project design and features
Designed by renowned global design firm Wimberly, Allison, Tong & Goo (WATG), the exclusive village will feature up to 10 different lush parks and communal gardens within a well-curated landscape.
These include Color Gardens (Chroma-therapy) featuring brightly colored trees and alleys filled with flowers; a Garden of Tranquility with an enclosed reflection lawn, an open lawn, and herbs and vegetable plots; and Edible Gardens that come with fruit-bearing trees, picnic tables, and play structures.
It will also have an Aromatherapy Garden with aromatic plants, picnic areas, and yoga and meditation platforms; and Fitness and Activity Gardens that come with a basketball court and other outdoor activities.
“We see Maple Grove Village as a luxury residential development that will be centered around [the theme of] wellness with lush [landscaped] environments and beautiful facilities that will promote well-being and relaxation for its residents,” WATG vice president for Landscape Architecture Ashley Scott said in a Zoom recording.
Another highlight of the township will be the village clubhouse that will feature a lounge, lap pool, gym, and fitness area, yoga studio, and function halls.
“For the clubhouse, we’re very cognizant of the fact that the tropical weather in the Philippines has a combination of extreme weather seasons, but it’s either hot or it’s very wet. And of course, it’s also complicated by perennial typhoons,” Scott said.
The style of the village would be contemporary tropical. “The architecture silhouette barely fits with a tropical context. We got broad roof overhangs that provide comfort to the residents and really nice shelter to the indoor spaces,” Scott also said.
“So, this is something that we’re going to bring into the development. It’s an element of wellness which has become quite popular internationally, and something that we do bring into a lot of our landscapes around the world,” he added.
Challenge
WATG Singapore vice president for Architecture Roger Gasper said one of the challenges they faced was that “we didn’t have a view to look at, we don’t have a mountain. We don’t have an ocean or a beach to be looking at from the clubhouse.”
“What we have done there is to create these views within the site itself. And so, the moment you arrive at the entry of the clubhouse, there’s a sense of some anticipation. There’s a sense of exploration. And then there’s a sense of a bit of a surprise,” Gasper said.
“We have this very unique site constraint and we turned that into an opportunity to create something exciting with a clubhouse layer and creating these buckets of gardens and landscape features in between,” he added.
WATG is tasked to develop the overall landscape design of Maple Grove’s community streets and open spaces, as well as the landscape and architectural design for the two-storey clubhouse and guardhouse.
The acclaimed international resort designer was the same group behind some of the world’s famous resort destinations like Shangri-La Maldives, Sofitel Bali in Indonesia, Atlantis The Palm in Dubai, as well as Shangri-La Boracay and Hilton Manila in the Philippines.
The township is just about 30 to 45 minutes away from Makati and Fort Bonifacio and can be accessed via the Coastal Road and the Manila–Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX).
It will also be accessible to future road networks and key infrastructure projects, including the LRT-1 Cavite extension, the Sangley Point International Airport, the CAVITEX-CALAX link, the Cavite-Tagaytay-Batangas Expressway (CTBex), and the Bataan- Cavite Interlink Bridge.