Sunday, December 02, 2007 The house Noel built By Archt. Karl Emerson Cabilao
ARCHITECTS design houses for other people. Well, make that anything that the built environment and its inhabitants need. However, after an architect weaves out creative plans and images for numerous structures owned by other people, how should he conceive his own domicile?
As the whole nation celebrates the nationwide Architecture Week in the next few days, we visit a beautiful and contemporary Filipino abode designed by and for an architect and his family up there in the hills of Talamban.
Architect Francisco Noel moved to Cebu with his wife and family after the board exams. He finished his architecture degree in Far Eastern University in Manila and spent some years in a Singaporean firm, where he had most of his hands-on training as a professional.
Green design. If there is anything he learned working in a foreign architectural office, it is how to design following the principles of green architecture. Since it is against the architect’s code of ethics to openly solicit for projects, he envisioned his house as a “living billboard” for his services. “I hope it would also make people give architects higher regard for what they can do to the community,” said the “green architect.”
The building orientation in itself treads on the existing natural conditions of the site. Most of its openings, like windows, are facing toward the north and south where prevailing winds come. This ensures the spaces inside an ample dose of natural ventilation. The four-sided open home occupies only half of the lot area paving way for enough open spaces that further encourage airflow. Utilities and service areas are on the west side.
For its construction, Noel employed several environment friendly building methods. For instance, the use of recycled “finger-jointed” lumber in most of its interior parts and flat metal sheets for its roofing, which are easy to install and require less manpower. Moreover, a flat roof connotes a contemporary feel.
During sunny days, sun baffles do not only allow natural lighting inside, but they also regulate their entry and create dramatic shadows on the house’s predominantly white walls. During nighttime, energy-saving bulbs render luminescence without burning the owners’ electric bill. When it rains, water from the sky would never go to waste as it is channeled toward a rainwater cistern (after freefalling from the gutterless roof) for usages such as flushing toilets, washing the car and watering the plants.
Noel’s house pictures what a licensed architect can offer his client. As the prime professionals in the built environment, their conceptualizations are guided by what is practical, cost-efficient and environment-friendly. Indeed, with architects, dream houses and buildings can become realities.
