Written by: Kenneth M. Del Rosario
Sergio Syjuco is a master at building luxury homes. In the industry for more than a couple of years now, he has successfully turned over dozens of homes with varying degrees of architectural difficulty to extremely satisfied clients. make no mistake about it—Sergio has managed to make a name for himself on his own having very little to start with.
Proof of this is Excalibur Builders, the boutique design and build firm he founded by himself several years ago. With his passion, dedication, and skills—and an equally excellent team behind him.
In his mid-30s, Sergio sees being young in the industry as an opportunity because clients who put their trust in him would get someone who’s hungry for achievement. Running a boutique firm, Sergio is very hands-on, independent, and resilient most especially in recent years.
“I made a business model based on what other construction companies were not doing,” he told the Inquirer in an exclusive interview. “There were many things in the planning, design, execution, and turnover phase that I changed to deliver better results for my clients.”
In that short amount of time, Sergio has proven his worth, starting with small renovations and repairs, before moving to more complicated home transformations. He eventually moved and specialized into building luxury homes. In the past recent years, he has gradually increased the sizes of homes he builds. According to Sergio, his smallest luxury home starts at 750 square meters and goes all the way to 2,500 square meters of floor area! Excalibur Builders has completed a wide array of designs—from Asian-modern homes to Scandinavian-modern; from classical-modern, to French-modern; from Spanish-modern to Filipino-modern homes. My homes are tailor made to the specific needs of my clients says Sergio. I help them seamlessly stitch everything together
Clients are Kings
What separates Excalibur Builders from others is their ability to turn over projects on time and on budget. A trait that is difficult to find in this industry. Excalibur Builders only accepts several projects per year to ensure strict quality control and turnover of homes. It’s not about having as many clients as possible. Sergio would rather focus on a handful of projects and make sure these are given the ample attention they deserve.
Among the things that sets Excalibur apart from other firms, big or small, is how Sergio gets to know his clients, always on a personal level. In his line of work, getting to know his clients and their families helps a lot as it allows him to get to know what kind of spaces and designs they want and need. The clients dictate and Excalibur Builders follows. Make no mistake, they are always the boss.
“Not many businesses or people in the industry can say that they’ve developed a personal relationship with their clients. But, to me, it’s not just strictly business. I’ve become good friends with many of my past clients-turned-friends. That speaks volumes to the dedication that I give to them,” Sergio said.
“My clients can call me everyday, Monday to Sunday, even at 2 in the morning I respond to messages. Even in the middle of the meal, I’ll answer your call immediately. That’s how dedicated and committed I am in this passion. To me it’s not business, it’s personal. It’s my name, it’s my reputation,” he said.
Accountability, excellence are key
Accountability is also one of the key factors in Excalibur Builders. Sergio understands that as a leader, he is responsible for the result of the projects his team works on. Given the nature of the business, someone who leads a design and build firm should be as bold as he is.
Sergio empowers his team to make certain decisions on their own as this encourages them to work harder.
“As head of the company, I take responsibility for delivering whatever we promise to our clients. We always strive for excellence, but if mistakes are made, I take it without the need to paper it over. Try as we may, mistakes do happen, but it’s our commitment to fix them that matters,” he said.
Excellence is another characteristic that Sergio and his team in Excalibur espouses. Sergio does “his rounds” over the job sites with the sharpest eye for detailed design and execution. He is big on accuracy, making sure every measurement is correct.
“Offsite is when the perfectionist in me jumps out. I critique the design and execution of the group of architects and engineers in my team during every building phase. I would also train individuals who exhibit the intention to learn and excel in this profession,” Sergio said.
Leading a skilled team
Sergio may be solely leading his firm, but he credits the men and women who work with him from the grassroots level—the laborers, masons, steelmen, finishing carpenters, and to those individuals who are also on the senior level.
Sergio has proven his worth, completing a wide array of concept homes that are classy, elegant, stylish, and modern all at the same time.
Headquartered in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, Excalibur has a full-time crew who work exclusively for the firm. The company’s in-house team includes architects, engineers, project managers, interior designers, and a vast skilled labor force that have many years of experience in all phases of construction.
“I’ve learned over the years that if I empower my men and allow them to make certain decisions on their own according to the plans, it encourages them to work harder and stay. I value their presence in the company because without these dedicated men, Excalibur is just a name,” he said.
Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio and his wife, Ruth, are some of Sergio’s most recent clients.
Excalibur Builders is geared towards expanding the business into other areas in Metro Manila. There’s an uptick in interest in building luxury homes, surprisingly also from international clientele.
The COVID-19 pandemic has taught Sergio a lot, giving him better insight as how to best navigate the company during the worst of times. For him, now is the optimum time to be making plans for building since market recovery is strong. People should strongly consider the substantially rising increase of prices of construction materials. This shall continue as the dollar gets stronger and serious tensions in Europe bring up gasoline prices. Anyone with plans to build a home should strongly consider to make a decision because delaying it will only make it more costly later.
Sergio said: “We’ll keep innovating not just in the design and construction phase but especially how we happily walk our clients through building their homes. What we want most is to keep improving our client relationship during the design, execution, and turnover phase. We will make the experience better, to make the process exciting and even enjoyable. I’m happy to say that each new client always teaches me something new that can be applied to the next one.”
Contact Excalibur Builders now at 09171388858 and visit their social media pages at www.excaliburph.com, instagram: excalibur_builders and facebook: @excaliburdesign.
ADVT.