Transcription
Today, guys, we are going to finally, finally reveal to you a project that we've been working on for so, so long. This project is the reason why we've paused on YouTube, because this needs so much brain power and brain cells. But guys, seeing it right now with all the renders and this scale model that we'll show you today makes it all worth it. This is The Rise at Monterrazas.
Okay. So before we actually do a reveal of the project, let's first talk about the backstory behind this entire development because it's very, very interesting, especially because we are building it on the side of the mountain. So we had like three pillars in mind when we were designing this. We wanted it to be architecturally forward, something that Cebu or the Philippines has never seen before. We wanted it to be, not just aesthetically pleasing, but also very, very usable and has an added benefit to the user. And lastly, because we're building on a mountain side, we want the project to be as sustainable as possible. And we've had several, several iterations to get to this point. This whole thing actually took us maybe around 300 different versions. So I just want to thank LLG Architects for being really patient with us.
So these were some of our past designs, and if you see right here, it looks like any other project. It doesn't hit those pillars that we want. You can even see that there are retaining walls here, which means in the original design, we carved out the mountains so it's not as sustainable, and it looks very congested and traffic just going through the area. It's not suitable to be on a mountain side; it really doesn't belong there.
So we've stepped back again and we kind of got inspired by working with nature, and the biggest inspiration for us was how us Filipinos work with nature in the past. We got inspired by the Banaue Rice Terraces. So instead of a normal building which is typically straight up and down, we kind of like worked with the terrain. So we just pushed everything towards the terrain and just followed the flow of the mountain. So this is the whole concept behind this one, but there's so, so, so many details. But I think it's time to open our project. Ladies and gentlemen, The Rise at Monterrazas.
This is what we've been working on for so, so long. And honestly, to see it in front of me right now brings so much joy to my heart because there were a lot of times where we thought that maybe this project isn't possible because there were a lot of details that we had to think through, to work on, just to make this into what it is today. So, for example, we've shown earlier that the structure is vertical, right? But if you come here, imagine if this was our tower here, but we pushed everything towards the mountain and just worked with the terrain. So each and every space was pushed towards the back, and with that, we're able to create this free-flowing design, but not only that, this whole structure is now spread out across the mountain, making it a whole lot safer and have less environmental impact. Not only that, by pushing it towards the back, the unit below becomes the outdoor space of the top, the unit below becomes the outdoor space of the top, and so on and so forth. So this makes the entire project feel more like a home because each and every unit has its own big outdoor space. Some of the units here even have a bigger outdoor space than my own house, and that is something we were able to offer for The Rise. Not only does it look good, it has all the advantages of a home, with the advantages of condominium living.
But there's more, ma'am/sir. We've pushed it at the back, right? Of course, there are hallways behind this. Those areas that are facing the mountain, we can't create units there, right? So what we did in the context of making this as much of a house as possible is we gave each and every unit storage space behind them. All our Christmas trees, party tables, and chairs, we have storage space, which is the typical problem of condominium living. So we offer best of both worlds here.
So let's get our bearings first. This area is just outside Monterrazas de Cebu. We're going to completely revamp the entry towards the subdivision. So this will be the new guard house. It has a big welcome area right here. And if you follow that road all the way up, that's Monterrazas Prime, the Skypod 2.0 that we made. We're already sold out there, by the way, guys. So thank you very much for all the support. So this whole area is called Guadalupe area, that's the biggest residential barangay in Cebu City. And this one is very close to Chong Hua Hospital, Cebu Doctors Hospital, close to San Carlos school, and very, very close to Ayala Center Cebu, just about 15 minutes away. So imagine having all that convenience but you're on the side of the mountain.
All the units here are facing one-way towards the east. So it's facing IT Park, Cebu Business Park. And since we're at the side of the mountain, each and every unit has their own views. And not only that, here's our entrance, right? When we enter, because we designed it like this, it's not like our old design anymore wherein it looks like it's congested with traffic, we are working now with the terrain and we can see the natural ebb and flow of the mountain right here. So this is going to be a very, very premium and low-density development. We only have 146 units for The Rise, and then right across it, the one that's in plastic here, we're going to be building a mall here in the future. So the whole entire Monterrazas de Cebu development will kind of be like a township in the future.
But guys, just look at this. If you enter here and you're driving through, this is what will greet you, and the feeling is beautiful and organic just going through here. And imagine you being in the mall, you have some outdoor spaces also here, this is the view that you'll be looking at, this is backdrop, while you're enjoying your coffee or you're enjoying your meal here. And if you can see very, very closely, this has outlines of light that draw those flowing lines of the development. And I can just imagine at night on how beautiful that would look like. Not only that, imagine if you're standing here, you're also looking towards the backdrop of the entire development that's very green and very lush, it feels as if you're wrapped in nature.
So I have some details that I'll show you, and this just goes to show how much thought was put into this development. So like I said earlier, for example, we're here, right? How do we protect our privacy right here? Of course, it's easy for someone to go towards the balcony and look down towards you, right? And this is why this green strip right outside was placed. It's not only just to be as green as possible, but it's also a conscious design effort to protect the privacy of the residents. There's a good distance from the railing to the edge. It's kind of got a setback so that the people below can't be easily seen. That's the entire design of that space. By also doing this strip of greenery, we are able to give back towards the mountain one hectare of greenery. So just to give that context, my house is around 300-400 square meters. So that's like 20-30 Skypods just on greenery alone.
Speaking of greenery and sustainability, this was something that's very smart that was done by one of our consultants. So this would be very, very expensive to maintain, to water, so we actually designed The Rise to have an irrigation system similar to those on farms. So this entire building will be collecting all the rainwater to a tank down below, and then we have an irrigation system, it's a drip irrigation system, that makes the entire strip of garden in front of you virtually maintenance-free. So that is one of the sustainable solutions that we made here.
Anyway, let's do a tour on the project itself. So when we enter, going straight would be Monterrazas de Cebu, going to the left, this driveway right here would lead you to the parking space underneath. All the parking spaces of The Rise will have provisions for electric car charging. All of them. It's not a charging station. Each and every parking slot has it. So going up, you have your units. Let's talk about the units later. It seems so complicated but we actually have just three main units and one penthouse. Anyway, let's go back in the meantime. This is the main area. But when you get to this area, this is a private clubhouse that will only be available to the unit owners of The Rise. Imagine your family enjoying the pool right here, the infinity pool, with still the flowing lines that is our inspiration, and it's an infinity towards the city view. Not only that, it has a big, big open area. And then here, we have a function hall for big birthday parties that's good for about 150 people. On the other side, you have a gym right here. With the gym, we've designed it so that it's on the edge of the pool. So while you're doing your treadmill, the pool is in front of you, it's actually similar to my house. And then, not only that, it's infinity towards the view outside. And we have saunas and locker rooms here. So this is an exclusive clubhouse just for the residents of The Rise. The view is beautiful here. This is one example that wherever you're at, the building is actually framing everything that you can experience. So you get to enjoy nature but you get to enjoy the architecture of The Rise itself.
So John has a question on how to access a unit. I think he's just referring to... Usually we have an up and down elevator, right? With this one, we looked all over the world, to be honest, to find a supplier for inclined lifts, it's a slanted elevator. So actually the elevator here, instead of going up and down, it's slanted. It's embedded into the mountain. But as a normal user, you won't feel the difference. It's just like any other normal elevator, but what's special here is it acts more like a funicular, like the train, versus an ordinary elevator. So we have, I think about six of that in this entire development.
So let's talk about the unit offerings because this is where it becomes really, really special. We have only three unit offerings, we have the three bedroom. The three bedrooms are the main units of this entire development. And what's good here is you have the same floor plan but when you're choosing your unit, you just choose based on what you want on the outside. So we have a three-bedroom unit that has decent outdoor space. We also have a three-bedroom unit that has a jacuzzi, bar counter, so that it's a sizeable outdoor space. But we also have these units that offer expansive outdoor areas where you can really party, you can put an organic farm, you can do yoga in the morning there, you can do a lot more things because that outdoor area can be at a range of 150-200 square meters, just the outdoor area alone.
Next, we have the loft unit. So these are the units right there that has their own pergola and it's a two-story unit, and when you enter it, it's really beautiful. It's two stories right away. You're looking at your own personal balcony, your own personal garden, and you're facing the views of the city. It has a personal elevator, it has four bedrooms, but the design itself truly feels like you're already at home. So again, the advantage of having kind of like a house but you have security, you have the condo management, you have every single advantage of condo living. But that's not my favorite unit. This is my favorite unit. This is the pool unit. It's a bi-level pool unit. We only have 12 of these. I'm bugging Kryz already to allocate a budget for this. (giggles) But the beauty of this is, it's two stories, right? All the bedrooms are at the top and when you enter in the main entrance, everything's already open to your infinity pool. That's why it has a drop on the garden area, because we wanted it that when you enter, you get to experience the infinity pool first, and it's kind of like your foreground to the views of the city. So it's really not a two-level if you really think about it, it's kind of like a three-level unit. So you have your ground unit and your bedroom unit's on the top. This also has a personal elevator. But you have this massive, massive garden. Imagine being here at night, enjoying wine, your backdrop of your infinity pool with a wall of water, the little ambiance of the wall of water at the back, and then you can have intimate gatherings to big, big parties, and you can enjoy those here. My personal favorite unit. Imagine being in the middle of a condo development but you have a full-size pool. I just checked the pool area of this. This pool is bigger than the pool of my own house. In a condo setting! It's just amazing. For me, personally, my favorite unit.
But guys, we have special units. So if you enter Monterrazas, it has a road here, right? There are units right at the top wherein instead of parking down below, since we have this road already, this is where they'll park straight to their unit. This is very, very special and limited loft unit. But we have one very, very special unit right here which we call the panorama penthouse. This is about 3,000 square meters. 800 sq. m. indoor, 2,000+ sq. m. outdoor. It's really a mansion. Our peg here was to create a narrow, narrow building so that each and every space will have views of the city, and then you have this generous pool with their own jacuzzi, with the outdoor area of... This is really not a condo, this is really a house. 10-car parking. It even has a service area. It has everything you would need. This is what Kryz likes, but I said that we really can't afford it. But yeah, this is the panorama mansion and easily the best unit of The Rise of Monterrazas.
So when we started this project, we wanted to create something very architecturally forward, and I feel like we've accomplished it with this design. And I also think that this whole development is one of the most few developments wherein it gets better over time. Like when this would be first built, the trees and plants won't be as mature yet, but over time, give it 2-3 years and having all the greenery mature, this is one unique project where it actually looks better and feels better over time. So architecturally, I think we've accomplished that. From the use case perspective, the outdoor space, the storage area, the working with the terrain, the views and everything, I think we nailed it on that point. But on the sustainability front, from the irrigation system— and by the way, the amenity area will be supplemented by solar power also, so that's another sustainability thing that we did— and just by making this future-proof with the electric car charging, and just being able to work with nature on this project, really truly does like warm my heart, as cheesy as it sounds. This is a project that I'm truly, truly proud of.
But I know you guys will have a lot more questions. I can imagine the questions about where the rainwater goes, soil stability, earthquake, how we address those. I think this is a long enough video. Put your comments down below. Let's talk about all your curiosities and how we were able to make this project possible. If you're interested on The Rise at Monterrazas, I'll put contact details and links down below. And make sure to subscribe so you get updated on this project. But for now, I'll see you S-later!