Recovering the prestige of a heritage site

Its strategic location within easy driving distance to the most expensive neighborhoods in the country is an easy way to explain why a proprietary membership share at the exclusive Manila Polo Club now costs close to P14 million today—higher even than the value of an average middle class home in Metro Manila.

Nevertheless, recent surges in the prices of shares have also followed major renovations that have highlighted the club’s distinguished heritage while satisfying the needs of the 2,000 or so members who regularly visit the venue to dine, swim, play tennis and yes, polo, and other sports.

Design strategies that have married the needs of various sets of Manila Polo Club members and its appeal as one of the most sought after events places represent among the most challenging accomplishments of leading architectural and interior design firm Asuncion Berenguer Inc. (ABI).

Led by principal architects and husband and wife team Ding Asuncion and Isabel Berenguer-Asuncion, the firm counts as its landmark projects a number of clubhouses designed for Alveo Land, as well as the developer’s corporate headquarters to open within the year in a major thoroughfare of  Bonifacio Global City. ABI also did the interiors of St. Luke’s Global City which has been adjudged one of the 25 most beautiful hospitals in the world by Health Exec News.

Isabel  Berenguer-Asuncion observes: “Renovating a club as prestigious as Manila Polo meant meeting the many diverse interests of members and officers. But we found a common vision which was translated through a masterplan divided into phases.”

More importantly, the renovation succeeded in adding even greater value to an already prime asset—25 hectares at the heart of the biggest financial center of the country. It’s a strategy that many of the buildings in Makati built in the 70s and 80s and now classified as “Grade B” have failed to utilize, according to studies by global real estate consultant Jones Lang LaSalle.

Built in the 50s, the original Manila Polo Club demanded a major overhaul in the last decade.  It had undergone a series of renovations—each one with a different objective and guided by a masterplan that had gone through a few necessary adjustments.  Recalls Isabel: “Our mission was to update and freshen-up the property while keeping its most basic elements—two of which were its long heritage and its distinct feel.”  The latter included the atmosphere created by adobe walls, marble floors and wrought iron works.

The first phase of the project completed around 2008 was to re-layout the function rooms like the Turf Room and the McKinley Rooms, and to introduce the proper prefunction areas, hallways, and comfort rooms for the guests. Previous to the first renovation, most of the function rooms were clustered in one area and were accessible only through the lobby of the popular function hall, the Main Lounge.  The lobby had what seemed like a side entrance which led to all other facilities of the club.

Recalls Asuncion: “It was confusing because all guests and members would come into a main entrance—with arriving guests in formal wear bumping into members leaving the club, wearing their sports attire and fresh from their game.” Thus, the first deliverable was a central lobby that heightened one’s sense of arrival. We also wanted to better define the spaces, segregate the users, and improve the flow between the different facilities.”

The second phase of the project, which was recently completed, was to upgrade the main function hall, better known as the Main Lounge, stripping the original timber of layers and layers of lacquer to reveal its natural grains, and improve the lighting and acoustics.  The work also included relocating and completely re-designing the President’s Room, Trophy Room, and the Willow Root Bar, the latter two now in larger spaces that overlook the Polo Field.

She observes: “Our challenges included rationalizing the existing entrances and hallways so it would make sense and coordinating the different floor levels we had to work with. Moreover, there were a lot of surprises once we started to open up walls and ceilings. There were so many limitations, so many existing site conditions we had to work with.”

These days, the Manila Polo Club has once again regained its stature among the well heeled as the place to hold a wedding reception or an anniversary—one of the very few secluded places in Makati where an evening can begin with al fresco cocktails overlooking the expansive polo field. Invitations from members to its food outlets and bar have likewise become coveted occasions.

Isabel Asuncion remarks: “We took pains to understand the objectives of the renovation project and the design language that already exists in the place. More than anything, we exercised restraint in making dramatic changes.”