On MyProperty.ph: The Marriage of Harmony and Comfort in Architectural Design

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We all appreciate beautifully designed buildings, but if the design does not serve any other purpose beyond what it is essentially built for, then the building would be just another ordinary structure.

Things are different with Primavera Residences, though. Behind that admiringly beautiful façade of an elegant, nature-inspired design lies a deeper purpose for its construction. As the cliché goes, there is more to Primavera Residences than meets the eye.

There are two things that make Primavera Residences unique: its sustainable architectural design and its energy efficiency features. Its design is based upon the analysis of wind flow, solar positioning and the local climate.

 

Featured in MyProperty.ph blog, 30 July 2014

On Business Mirror: Property Developer Aims to ‘Build a Better Earth’

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Atty. Jojo Leviste and Arch. Romolo V. Nati

In a country that is often plagued by natural disasters like earthquakes and typhoons, property developers have to learn to adapt to extreme weather conditions.

This is why Chief Executive Romolo V. Nati and President Jojo D. Leviste of Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corp. (ITPI) put up their company. Established in 2009, ITPI is an Italian-Filipino firm that designs and develops sustainable properties nationwide, among them its flagship project in Cagayan de Oro called Primavera Residences.

Nati and Leviste joined the Philippine real estate development business wanting to offer something different to the market: beautifully designed properties that reduce impact on the environment.

Featured in Business Mirror, 12 May 2014

Yearender: In 2013, First Mover in Philippine Green Property Spurred Sustainable Architecture Forward

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Coral Cities
This “Coral City Concept” by ITPI CEO Architect Romolo V. Nati bested 200 entries from 50 countries to win The Special Energy Award in the Design Against the Elements (DAtE) International Design Competition held in Metro Manila in 2011

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Fil-Italian company shared know-how, demoed with a sustainable condo, and pushed to make sustainable building the ‘new normal’

In a tumultuous 2013 that saw millions of Filipinos suffer from two huge disasters, an innovative first mover in the green and sustainable property sector contributed its bit to help the country get back on its feet — and prepare for the future.

While ITPI Corp. (Italpinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corporation) forked out only a small part of its earnings to help disaster survivors, it shared hugely of its real wealth: experience and know-how on building for extreme conditions.

Over the course of the year, the green property firm took time out from its hectic property development schedule to advocate for sustainable building practices, as well as to publicly share tips on how to build eco-friendly properties and robust structures that can withstand typhoons, earthquakes and similar catastrophes.

Responding to the turmoil brought by Yolanda, the ITPI executive chairman and CEO offered free advice on how to build in the extreme conditions that are part of what he called “this new reality of deadlier and more frequent catastrophes induced by climate change”.

Formed in 2009 by executive chairman and CEO Architect Romolo V. Nati and his Filipino partner, Atty. Jojo Leviste, ITPI is a young property developer, but it has quickly taken the lead in sustainable mixed-use developments in the country’s secondary cities.

Primavera Residences: proof of concept

As proof of concept, ITPI’s first property development in Cagayan de Oro City is a mixed-use condominium complex found in the prime location of Pueblo de Oro Business & IT Park that incorporates many sustainability features.

Called Primavera Residences, the two 10-storey twin towers were designed using state-of-the-art computer software that simulated how the structures would react to various strains, helping ITPI design these to withstand strong typhoons and earthquakes.

The two towers are also designed to use a combination of passive cooling strategies and active renewable energy production from photovoltaic or solar panels to reduce overall energy consumption.

“The best principles of passive building technology — shadow and sunlight control, wind cooling and shape performance — have been used in Primavera Residences,” said Arch. Nati.

The same architectural features that make Primavera Residences green also function to make Primavera Residences ‘typhoon resistant.’ “This is why the building survived typhoon Sendong, which hit Cagayan de Oro in 2011,” Arch Nati explained.

“While the location (110 meters above sea level) saved the tower from massive flooding at the height of Sendong, it was the passive cooling features that mitigated the strong winds’ impact on the building,” he said.

Green buildings are good investments

Units in both buildings have also sold quickly – allowing ITPI to demonstrate the viability of building eco-friendly buildings that are elegant but affordable.

The first tower, completed late in 2012, is almost fully sold-out. Tower B is also around 30 percent sold-out, even if its construction is also around 30 percent complete. To be launched this February, construction of this second tower is expected to be completed by the third quarter of this year.

Aside from the psychic reward that comes from helping save the planet, buying eco-friendly homes are also good investments, according to Atty. Leviste.

“Green properties like Primavera Residences are also a very good investment because they give owners huge savings in maintenance and electricity costs,” the ITPI President said.  “They are also more disaster-resistant and their value actually grows with time — retail sales of green buildings increase every year,” Leviste added.

The ITPI President also noted that green properties are appraised 10% to 15% higher than conventional properties by the United States Appraisal Institute.

Primavera Residences designer featured as ‘Innovator’ in 2013 Italian Language Week

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Leonardo-Da-Vinci-Backgrounds-HD

The architect who designed the first eco-friendly, mixed-use condominium development in Mindanao spoke as an ‘Italian innovator’ last Thursday, Dec

12, at the 13th edition of the Settimana della lingua italiana nel mondo (Italian Language Week), the 13th global celebration of the annual cultural event first held in 2001

ITPI Corp (ItalPinas Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corporation) Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Romolo Valentino Nati shared his ‘eco-logic’ design principles with other Italian innovators and an audience of mostly young Filipino university students and aficionados of Italian language and culture

Launched with the aim of promoting Italian language and culture, each year’s edition of Italian Language Week is held simultaneously in many countries on December 10-13, revolving around a specific theme or particular aspect in the use of the Italian language

As this year’s theme was ‘Ricerca, Scoperta, Innovazione: L’Italia dei saperi or Research, Discovery, Innovation: Italy and Knowledge’, Architect Nati was chosen to present his company’s innovative approach to architecture, building and property development

Every year, Italian Language Week is organized by the Accademia della Crusca in collaboration with the Office for the Promotion and Cooperation in Cultural Affairs of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In the Philippines, the Embassy of Italy and the Department of European Languages of the University of the Philippines, Diliman organized the event

Nati pushes sustainable architecture

Nati spoke on “Eco-Friendly Buildings and Renewable Energy” at the one of the Italian Language Week’s events, a whole-day forum held Dec

12 at the Claro M

Recto Hall of the College of Arts and Letters in the UP Diliman campus

The Italian architect is the designer of Primavera Residences and his company, ITPI, developed this

ITPI a property development company formed in 2009 by Nati and his Filipino partner Atty

Jojo Leviste

A young developer, it invests most of its resources into its in-house research and design (R&D) department that looks into sustainable architecture

ITPI is also an affiliate of the renewable energy firm Constellation Energy Corp

(CEC)

Leviste is the President of CEC

A truly green and ‘disaster-proof’ architecture

Primavera Residences is a 10-storey, twin-tower, mixed-use development located in Cagayan de Oro’s plush Pueblo de Oro Business & IT Park

Its first tower, Tower A, just completed in the third quarter of last year, is almost fully sold-out

Tower B is also around 30 percent sold-out, even if its construction is also around 30 percent complete

Tower A of Primavera Residences has an inner courtyard and a cross-ventilation layout designed to enhance natural air flow and light

Shaded facades sift sunlight’s entry through windows, moderating the temperature inside units, slashing air-conditioning costs by up to a third

These features — coupled with its location (110 meters above sea level) — also functioned to make the condominium ‘typhoon resistant,’ helping it survive typhoon Sendong, which hit Cagayan de Oro in 2011

The location saved it from massive flooding at the height of Sendong, while the energy-saving features helped mitigate the impact of strong storm winds on the building

The structures have also been designed to withstand earthquakes of high intensities

Multi-awarded green property developments

Because of the eco-friendly features included in the design of its two towers, Primavera Residences has quickly gained the attention of both renowned real estate institutions as well as institutions involved in sustainable property development

Primavera Residences has won two awards:

(1) The Most Promising Clean Energy Investment Opportunities from the Climate Technology Initiative-Private Financing Advisory Networks (CTI-PFAN) in 2010, given at the Asia Forum for Clean Energy Financing held in Makati

CTI-PFAN is the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) initiated by the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) in cooperation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Expert Group on Technology Transfer

PFAN operates to bridge the gap between investments and clean energy businesses

(2) One of the Best Condo Developments in the Philippines from the 2011 South East Asia Property Awards at a ceremony held at Singapore

See the world through Italian language

At the forum, Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Roscigno declared that the Italian language is a good instrument to explore the world

“Italian is a language of music,” Roscigno said, also noting that it was important to devote resources to protect our heritage

“Without heritage, we are nothing,” he said

The ambassador also expressed sympathy over the destruction of churches in Bohol and urged all Filipinos to do what they can to help restore our heritage sites, despite the economic challenges faced by the nation

In past years, some of the other themes of the Italian Week were:

  • L’italiano e le arti della parola (Italian and the art of words)
  • L’italiano come lingua di poesia (Italian as a poetic language)
  • Il cibo e le feste nella lingua e cultura italiana (Food and feasts in the Italian language and culture)
  • La lingua italiana e il mare (The Italian language and the sea)
  • L’italiano in piazza (Italian in the square)
  • L’italiano tra scienza e tecnologia (Italian in science and technology)

Multi-awarded Italian architect offers to draft rehab master plan for typhoon-hit areas

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Tacloban city scale

 

MANILA – An Italian architect with an interest in green energy and sustainable architecture is offering to help draft the master plan to rebuild Leyte and other parts of Eastern Visayas hardest hit by super typhoon ‘Yolanda’.

Architect Romolo V. Nati, executive chairman and chief executive officer of ITPI (Italpina Euroasian Design and Eco-Development Corp.) said he is willing to work with local engineers in affected areas to build storm-resistant urban centers.

“I feel very sad for the Filipinos in Tacloban and Leyte who have to deal with the death and destruction brought by Yolanda, and I would like to help them get back on their feet,” said Nati, who has made the Philippines his adoptive home for four years now.

The Italian head of ITPI has partnered with Constellation Energy Corp (CEC),which has expanded its business from green energy to the design and development of sustainable buildings.

CEC has contracts with the Department of Energy (DOE) for several geothermal, wind and hydroelectric projects.

“Even as we grieve, we can move forward,” said Nati. “Now we have a chance to develop the master plans of the new cities and towns—sustainable plans that take into account the need to survive typhoons and build sustainable habitats.”

“It is possible to create master plans of cities and towns that have a much better chance of withstanding super storms and other extreme weather conditions that the world expects as a consequence of climate change,” he said.

Some features of sustainable habitats include proper zoning or concentrating living spaces in higher areas, in places 50 to 100 meters above sea level, and building dikes and storm walls, as well as drainage channels to facilitate the flow of storm waters into the sea.

“For buildings, we can also adopt what I call the ‘Aikido strategy,’ that includes adopting features that minimize the opposition of strong winds and storm waters,” Nati said. Aikido is a Japanese martial art in which practitioners don’t oppose their attackers head on but instead flow with the motion of the attacker to redirect the force of the attack.

Among these features are perforated facades and inner courtyards, both of which minimize the opposition of buildings to storm surges and strong winds brought by typhoons.

“Buildings can also be designed to withstand extreme conditions by adopting hydrodynamic and aerodynamic shapes,” Nati said.

“Of course building structures that are elevated from the ground will also help protect the building from flash floods during storms,” he said.

“For settlements along coastal areas, erecting buildings with all their load-bearing walls positioned perpendicular—and not in opposition—to the sea can help withstand tsunamis.  Open room-to-room designs that minimize obstruction in the event of overpowering flow of water can also help,” he said.

Nati said these storm-resistant features have been incorporated in Tower 1 of the Primavera Residences, ITPI’s mixed-use condominium complex in Cagayan de Oro (CDO) City, and helped it survive the deadly typhoon Sendong that flattened many buildings in CDO and in nearby Iligan City in December 2011.

Nati’s work has been recognized by many organizations around the world and has won him many international competitions, including the 2011 Design Against the Elements (DAtE) International Design Competition sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the Climate Change Commission, and the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) with other institutions.

His “Coral City Concept” bested 200 entries from 50 countries and bagged the Special Energy Award.

He graduated summa cum laude in architecture from the La Sapienza University in Rome and has a Masters in Urban Landscape and Layers from the University of Tallin in Estonia.

Published by Interaksyon.com