Townhomes with floating balconies

First there was the floating classroom, house and carport designed by Filipino architect Edilberto Morcilla featured in Inquirer Property on June 22, 2013.

Now comes architect Jason Buensalido’s three-story townhomes concept, which features a detachable floating balcony—called by its designer as the “regenerative amphibious floating terrace” (RAFT)—and a vehicle RAFT.

The detachable balcony RAFT—to be used as a rowboat for inhabitants/evacuees in the event of high flooding—measures 2.6 square meters.

The vehicle RAFT, which measures about 20 sq m, will be chained to a vertical pole, which would allow it to simply follow the rise and recession of the floodwater.

Design

Buensalido and his firm Buensalido+Architects came up with the design that would adapt to flood levels along the Marikina River. The townhome will be built on the property of John Aguilar, the executive producer of the “Philippine Realty TV” show aired on ANC and Studio 23.

In fact, five three-story townhomes will be built on Aguilar’s 362-sq-m property. Each townhome will stand on a 73-sq-m lot, and will have a total floor area of 135 sq m.

Aguilar, president of StreetPark Productions Inc., revealed that the term “detachable balcony” was coined by Buensalido.

The cost of the project is still undetermined, as Aguilar said he was still “waiting for the quotes of the bidding contractors.”

Aguilar said the detachable balcony RAFT would be located on the second floor of each townhome unit.

Buensalido’s summary of the concept, provided by Aguilar to Inquirer Property, indicates that the RAFT is an actual component of the climate-adaptive house.

The entire townhomes would also be raised, through stilts, to a level slightly higher than the last recorded flood level. There would be nothing on the ground level but stairs going up to the upper levels, and a shaded multi-use patio.

The bedrooms would be on the second floor. In the event that the water level reaches the second floor, the inhabitants can proceed to the third floor, where most of the appliances would be.

The third floor spaces will be “open plan,” where the living, dining and kitchen areas will be. During floods, the family can huddle together here and provide emotional support to one another, according to Buensalido.

The balcony RAFT, on regular days, can function as a second-floor terrace.

Platform

The vehicle RAFT is simply a platform for the family vehicle. During high-level floods, the vehicle RAFT would simply float and keep the vehicle above the floods. The car will be chained to the RAFT.

Aguilar estimated that it would take six or seven months to build the townhomes.

“We want to share our design solutions with people who will be building in low-lying areas, or perhaps retro-fit our ideas into their own homes,” he said.

Aguilar, whose property is in New Marikina Subdivision, said the value of the land in the area is estimated to be P10,000 per sq m.

“During Tropical Storm “Ondoy” in 2009, the market value was around 8,000/sq m. So the land values here even increased.”

Aguilar’s flood-proof townhome was conceptualized right after the completion of PRTV’s second-building project, the Green Home in Nuvali. The first project was First Home in Antipolo designed by architect Jun Palafox’s firm, Palafox Associates.