Succulents House

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Conceived as a retirement home for her septuagenarian mother, the client issued a short but interesting wish list for this project. The brief calls for a single-storey, single bedroom, no-frills, easy-to-build, and low-cost house that will sit on a sloping 300 sq.m. plot of land in Silang, Cavite. The mother is looking forward to managing an on-site commercial propagation of succulents and other ornamental plants, geared towards the online market. Due to this, two-thirds of the plot has been designated as a garden. A yard hidden from public view was also requested to shelter exotic plants from direct sunlight and the negative effects of the monsoon winds. Owing to its location to a nearby university, a small dorm that can accommodate up to 4 students was later added to the brief.

Given the age of the owner’s mother, on top of the design agenda is to future-proof the house by providing an access ramp as a means of ingress to the house rather than a straightforward stair. A consistent floor level within the house is likewise maintained throughout the design. The bathroom is sized to accommodate a wheelchair-bound user in the future.

To address the requirements for a low-cost structure and quick turnaround, we looked towards the use of used shipping containers. At about Php 85,000.00 apiece, it was an obvious choice. With its structural rigidity and unique characteristic of achieving significant cantilevers, combined with the site topography, the lure of a floating box is hard to resist. The façade suggests little that the main components of the house are composed of a 10-footer and 3 units of 20-footer shipping containers. The only giveaway of these boxes’ ocean-going history are the steel beams that are visible between the living and dining areas. These beams are part of the main structural frames of the containers. Rather than hiding them from view, these beams are rather celebrated by intentionally exposing them. Conductive, radiant, and convective heat will be addressed by close-celled spray-applied expanding foam insulation and will be finished with drywall on metal furrings.

Designing this house was both experimental and a fun process that demanded the clever use of spaces in tiny boxes. While at the same time putting forward a fresh contemporary structure to the neighborhood where it will sit. A walk-through animation of the Succulents House can be viewed here.

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Project name: Succulents House
Location: Silang, Cavite, Philippines
Architect: Michael Gracilla, UAP, LEED AP | ARKMIKEL Design Architects
Features: Residential/ Dormitory, G, 1BR + 2 Dorm Rooms, 2-car parking
Architectural style: Contemporary Industrial
Scope of work: Design & Build (TBA)
Lot size: 300.00 sq.m. (3229.17 sq.ft.)
Total Built-up Area: 57.51 sq.m. (619.03 sq.ft.)
Project Status: Design completed, 2019, Build TBC

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