Serendra

3/21/2007

It’s a good thing that more and more lifestyle developments are coming up that are changing our streetscapes for the better. Now diners and the usual mall-goers are given an alternative to the usual malling. It’s now more a combination of going to the mall with a park atmosphere or vice-versa.

Enter Serendra.  This is a perfect example of a development with such a concept. 

For those who live in a residential condo, it’s so ideal to have everything you want a few paces away. You live in a prestigious address, done with taste, and the whole of Fort Bonifacio as your backyard.

Although it is in the heart of the city, sustainable development was seriously considered.  This is evident in the greeneries that surround the development. This lowers the temperature drastically.  Air-conditioned areas are reduced thus reducing the effects of global warming as emitted by the condensers and other equipment.

In my very first article for this column, Living Architecture, two years ago, I discussed this but using an example from abroad, Santana Row in San Jose, California. Now, just after two years, we have our own to boast about.  It is a contribution to the community in the sense that this can now be a benchmark for other developers to be more generous with their green spaces and not think of cost efficiency and profit margins only. 

The percentage of building footprint to land is:

Imagine the fuel saved because you need not take a car to go to the mall or place of work if you also work in the vicinity.

Imagine the amount of quality time you gain because you wouldn’t have to stay in traffic but rather spend it with your family.

Another uniqueness of Serendra is that the stores are facing each other. Other developments have their commercial centers facing the street for visibility. It’s visible all right but it reduces the human aspect of things wherein people would rather be beside other people rather than beside cars.  Not to mention that it’s safer. It adds to the coziness of the place.

Thanks, too, to our landscape architects for contributing so much to sustainable development.  They are improving the ecological balance within our cities and maximizing the potentials of the land we architects have not used up.  Unfortunately, many of our landscape architects are being siphoned away by or neighboring countries like China. That’s how good they are!
 
It is also a great place to show artistic pieces because, aside from sustainability, we also have a
responsibility in promoting our heritage and showing the rest of the world what makes us different.