Foster + Partners Reveals BWDC Residential Tower in Manila

Foster + Partners Reveals BWDC Residential Tower in Manila

Foster + Partners has revealed the design of the BWDC Residential Tower, a luxury apartment building in Manila, the Philippines. The new tower combines the city’s vernacular architecture and traditional veranda lifestyle with modern high-rise living. The project is the firm’s latest in the tropics which responds to the regions’ intense weather systems, mitigating high temperatures and humidity through passive design strategies.

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Each apartment in the 45-storey tower has a wraparound veranda which is protected by large roof overhangs, sheltering tenants from Manila’s extreme climate. The building is designed to provide residents with 270-degree views of the Manila Golf & Country Club and Manila Polo Club, a 60-hectare green lung in the center of the city. At the ground level, the project extends the greenery of the adjacent park, and provides shaded spaces for the local community. Upon reaching the building, residents walk across a tree-lined avenue, arriving at an elevated drop-off with views over the park. At the entrance, private lifts are housed in a semi-detached external unit, which introduces natural ventilation and daylighting to the lift lobbies.

Each apartment measures around 550 sqm and covers the entire floor of the building. The scheme aims to achieve Green Mark Platinum. Wraparound, semi-external verandas act as thermal buffers and protect the interior spaces from direct solar radiation. The building’s windows are operable to achieve cross ventilation to all units. Deeply recessed clerestory windows are also design to reduce sky glare and allow daylight into the units, achieving thermal comfort by natural means. In addition, a highly efficient centralized chilled water supply system enables cooling at all other times. 

We wanted to create a luxury residential tower with unparalleled visual and spatial connections to Manila’s central green spaces. The project also extends an adjacent park, providing the city with a new public amenity. The BWDC Residential Tower has been carefully designed to moderate the high temperatures and humidity of the region, delivering climate-responsive, comfortable spaces for living. — Luke Fox, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners

The peripheries of the site feature a two-storey retail building, providing visitors and the public with shaded arcade spaces. The building’s amenities, which include a 25-metre tension edge pool overlooking the park, are located on the green roof of the building, whereas a club, library, spa, and gym are located within the building footprint.