Scheme is practice鈥檚 first in Philippines

Foster + Partners has announced the start on site of a 54-storey residential tower in Manila鈥檚 Makati central business district.

The Estate Makati tower, on Ayala Avenue, is the practice鈥檚 first foray into the Philippines.

Fosters said each of the building鈥檚 apartments occupied a single quadrant of each respective floor鈥檚 cruciform plan, giving 180-degree views of the city and making each home a 鈥渢rue corner unit鈥.

It added that the building鈥檚 skin was being treated as a 鈥渢hree-dimensional space鈥 that residents could 鈥渓iterally move into鈥 and that bathtubs, desk spaces and day beds could be integrated into the tower鈥檚 bay windows, which had been designed to protect privacy but let in natural light.

Developers on the scheme are local firms SM Development Corporation and Federal Land.