Designing for the Future: An Architect's Lens on SM Group's Vision

With an average of 20 typhoons hitting the country every year, incorporating disaster resilience and sustainability into building designs has become essential for SM's integrated property development arm, SM Prime Holdings, Inc.

The SM group's foresight to incorporate best building practices continues with the next generation of leaders, as Jessica Sy, Vice President and Head of Design, Innovation, and Strategy of SM Prime and its residential arm, SM Development Corporation (SMDC), addresses a group of aspiring architecture students about the importance of respecting the land through the creation of green buildings that protect the community's well-being in the long run.

“From an architectural standpoint, we want to make sure that when we develop a building, it’s going to last for a long time,” said Ms. Sy. “We’ve seen that what’s good for our communities is actually good for our company because addressing their needs also strengthens our connection with them as our customers.”

Ms. Sy drew on past lessons from her first year of architecture school to emphasize the importance of water in any development. It may be both lovely (a source of life) or unpredictable in nature.

“As architects, this was one of the first few things we were taught,” she added as Ms. Sy addressed the aspiring students in the crowd. “Water is life-giving but it can also change everything. Floods in properties could heavily impact and uproot the lives of many families.”

SMDC assures that its development adheres to the highest disaster resilience standards. Field Residences in Parañaque, which opened in 2008, exemplifies this commitment. When the SMDC team discovered that water levels at Field Residences had risen over time owing to a variety of circumstances, including climate change, they chose to return to examine a project they had already completed.

A large rainwater retention tank was built at the Parañaque development in September. It is built to withstand major downpour events and can handle amounts comparable to Typhoon Ondoy, which dumped 455 millimeters of rain in 24 hours.

With the tagline 'A home that adapts to you,' SMDC seeks to be connected to its residents while evolving with the community's needs throughout time.

SMDC has outfitted a number of its properties with disaster resilience elements throughout the years, and none of them were flooded during Typhoon Carina.

​SMDC buildings not only contain green construction features but also strengthen community relations, raise environmental awareness, and promote local identity in their projects. To highlight local flora in their developments, Ms. Sy and her team select native plants that are better suited to the location.

“We try to reduce the types of plants that don’t benefit the local environment nor enliven its biodiversity,” she said. “What we do is to identify plants that can prosper here such as the endemic katmon [Dillenia philippinensis] tree. When fully grown, they’re very hospitable to local insects.”

Recognizing this, SMDC launched the establishment of future nurseries for these plants in developments such as Parkville in Bacolod, as well as chosen properties in North and South Luzon and Mindanao, in order to cultivate these plants and incorporate them into other properties around the Philippines.

SM Prime's multidimensional building design strategy answers the demand for retail, residential, business, and recreational areas to be effectively and seamlessly linked within a 15-minute city concept.

“The idea is not a new concept, but a 15-minute city is something we want to continue incorporating in our integrated property developments,” she said. “We want to encourage pedestrian-friendly communities by creating spaces that addresses today’s challenges like traffic congestion through responsible and efficiently designed spaces.”

Ms. Sy used her skills as an architect to emphasize the need for designing structures that respect the earth and the community.

“The decisions that we have today are going to impact the long-term future,” she added. “With sustainability at the forefront of our conversations nowadays, we see that that’s part of the legacy that we need to complete.