Essensa East Forbes (Taguig)

In 1996 the developer Jose E. B. Antonio, of Century Properties, took a major gamble by launching his first luxury condominium, Essensa East Forbes, in Bonifacio Global City, a district that had yet to be developed. The project was commissioned jointly by Century Properties and the Meridien Group. Planning began in April 1996 and construction in September 1997, and the towers were completed in March 2001.

The site, just under a hectare, is part of the development zone of Fort Bonifacio, once a military base of 440 hectares, whose master plan sets out an Asian garden city.

The two towers, thirty storeys and 125 m each, were designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, with Henry N. Cobb and Roy G. Barris as lead designers and the Philippine firm Pablo R. Antonio Jr. Design Consultancy as associate architect. Each butterfly-shaped floor plate holds four large apartments, one per wing: 232 homes in all.

The curving towers are shaped to open up views and allow cross-ventilation, and they embrace the private gardens at their base. Whereas buildings in Manila usually fill their plots to the edges, Essensa keeps nearly 70% of its site as landscaped open space. The design of the windows draws on the Antillean style of old Manila. The finishes are in travertine.

Essensa East Forbes is a private residence in Bonifacio Global City; it is not open to visits.