Cagayan de Oro Developer’s Coral City Project Featured in Science Textbook

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One of the design projects of Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corp. (ITPI) – the developer of Primavera Residences – has recently been featured in a Philippine science textbook. In its “Exploring Life through Science” textbook series for Grade 9 students, Phoenix Publishing House featured Coral City as a perfect example of biomimicry.

Coral City is ITPI’s architectural design concept for a socialized housing project in Quezon City. Biomimicry is a new field in science that studies the natural form and functions found in nature and imitates them to create solutions.

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Coral City is a 30,000-sqm green complex comprising individual buildings shaped like corals. The complex is designed to address disaster resiliency and sustainable development in the Philippines. It is the developer’s official entry to the Design Against the Elements (DaTE) international architectural competition held in Manila in 2011. It won a Special Energy Award in the competition.

The textbook highlighted the unique biomimetic design of Coral City, particularly its green features that make the complex sustainable and disaster resilient.

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Taking Inspiration from Nature for Sustainable Design

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If there is one thing that makes Primavera Residences stand out from the rest of the urban developments in Cagayan de Oro particularly, it is the advocacy of its creators Arch. Romolo V. Nati and Atty. Jojo Leviste of promoting sustainable living through the development of eco-friendly residential units. The two bigwigs, through Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corporation (ITPI), the developer of Primavera Residences, collaborated and came up with a brilliant plan to put up a nature-inspired residential space in uptown Cagayan de Oro where business opportunities are flourishing.

The unique nature-based design of Primavera Residences is actually patterned after a concept called biomimicry. In architecture, it pertains to the understanding of various forms and elements of nature in achieving sustainable design. Basically, the application of biomimicry is to understand the principles behind it, rather than replicate the natural form.

Primavera Residences was structured after the natural ventilation scheme of a termite mound or anthill. The inner courtyard located at the center of the property was patterned after the hollow central opening of a termite mound where it acts as a natural cooling process. The courtyard keeps cool air at the ground and evenly distributed across the units while warm air is expulsed upwards and out from the building through the rooftop. The cross ventilation allows unit owners to use air conditioners sparingly, saving energy consumption up to 32 percent.

In addition, the cantilevers surrounding the entire building façade prevent the sun’s rays from directly hitting the window surfaces, thus reducing heat temperature.

This nature-inspired scheme in building Primavera Residences is what Nati also calls “performance-based design” which calls for analysis of the building’s prime location in order to maximize its energy consumption and saving approach. Through this, ITPI stays true to its goal of developing sustainable design with a positive impact on the environment.

While most commercial properties are too focused on generating revenue, Primavera Residences was built with a far more significant purpose geared towards caring for the environment. Unit owners don’t just own a condo at this eco-friendly property; they also become promoters of sustainable living and advocates of the environment.

Want to live in an environment-friendly home? Primavera Residences offers condos for rent in Cagayan de Oro. Visit www.primaveraresidences.com for more details.