CAZA Architects

SURBA

Project Size: Small

Niseko House

How can Nature and New coexist beautifully?

Located in the winter landscape of Niseko, Hokkaido, the Peak residence offers a unique blend of contemporary design and breathtaking natural immersion. This new project addresses the desire for sophisticated, high-end housing in the world’s premier powder destination. Spanning 780 square meters across three meticulously designed floors, the design blends seamlessly with the environment through modern geometry and natural materials.

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

Modern, raw, and balanced.
A modern structure, rooted in traditional architecture with its unique geometric volumes seamlessly integrates with the existing alpine forest. Blending raw and refined materials, the building features a robust concrete base layered with dark, elegant charred timber on the upper levels and wood structure for the roof. This architectural dialogue creates a visually compelling narrative, balancing solidity and transparency through vast, floor-to-ceiling glass windows that capture the sun and breathtaking mountain and forest vistas.

Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.

Connected
Prioritizing connection with nature, the interior features six luxurious rooms and an expansive, open-plan kitchen and living room designed to flow directly to the exterior. This central space is designed to dissolve the barrier to the outdoors, flowing directly onto a spacious outdoor deck and a private, traditional Onsen where residents can immerse themselves in the restorative waters with unobstructed views of the alpine environment, promoting a serene, and healthy-oriented lifestyle.

With its prime location offering effortless access to Niseko’s world-class slopes and amenities, the Peak exemplifies a sophisticated vision of a living sanctuary that honors both architecture and the raw beauty of the wilderness.

La Salle Botanical Chapel

How can a botanical garden bring back hope for a calamity-stricken community?

Set within the lush, regenerative landscapes of Botolan, Zambales, the De La Salle Botanical Gardens looms over as a visionary fusion of ecological healing and innovative design. Rising from a site shaped by a 20th-century volcanic eruption, the 7,500 sqm multipurpose facility includes a dynamic cluster of event spaces, a chapel, meditation grottos, and support offices—all interwoven by shaded pergolas that invite communal gathering.

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

The architecture draws on organic forms, featuring dome vaults and catenary arches that echo the surrounding terrain. Materials like glass, concrete, and patented 3D-printed bricks—engineered to reduce the building’s carbon footprint by 70%—support both sustainability and structural elegance.

This interplay between technology and nature creates a space that encourages reflection, resilience, and connection. As a new civic anchor within a rewilding site, the Community Center sets a precedent for building in dialogue with both environmental recovery and cultural revitalization.

Venice Biennale 2016

Can people engage with the complexities of architectural drawing?

As architects, our daily practice involves the creation of personal geographies through drawing exercises. In this exhibit at the Venice Biennale in 2016, we selected drawings from our book, CAZA: 2010-2016, to act as an interface with the visitor.

The visitor enters the room and gazes at a screen equipped with a camera that captures the movements of their face. The twist is that the screen does not project a perfect mirror image of their face, but instead displays a drawing animated by their movement. Every facial gesture engenders a physical change in the drawing on the screen—the visitor sees their face transcribed as a form they don’t recognize, yet paradoxically control.

Each drawing used as a facial mask was developed during the execution of an architecture project currently under construction, showcasing the dynamic potential of modular and parametric design as tools for interaction and interpretation.

A visitor observing CAZA’s mirrored installation at Venice Biennale 2016.
Venice Biennale 2016
Books displayed as part of CAZA’s Venice Biennale 2016 exhibition.
Venice Biennale 2016
CAZA’s Venice Biennale 2016 installation with mirrored walls and digital screen.
Venice Biennale 2016
Carlos Arnaiz smiling in front of CAZA’s Venice Biennale 2016 display.
Venice Biennale 2016

Tesoro Pavilion

How might fashion inspire the design of physical structures?

The Tesoro Pavilion, designed for a visionary fashion tycoon, draws its conceptual and formal inspiration from the craft of garment pleating—a process where a flat surface is transformed into volume and structure. Here, CAZA applies this logic through a modular, parametric design that turns a single folded roof plane into a dynamic architectural experience.

Plan drawing of the Tesoro Pavilion showing angular roof geometry and seating layout.
Tesoro Pavilion

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

Each pleat in the pavilion’s roof is parametrically defined, creating structural stiffness while dictating the rhythmic placement of beams and columns. The resulting folds expose the ceiling’s sculptural underside and shape the circulation pathways around the poolside. These modular pleats also organize pocket gardens that sprout at their base, weaving nature into the expressive structure.

Children and families gather around the Tesoro Pavilion, a folded origami-like structure in a lush garden.
Tesoro Pavilion

Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.

As an extension of the family’s ancestral home, the pavilion combines fashion’s energy and innovation with the modularity and flexibility of parametric architecture, offering a lively yet elegant setting for gatherings and leisure.

Tan Mausoleum

How can physical materials reflect the immateriality and ephemerality of life?

For this mausoleum, we treated materials in a way that makes the building appear insubstantial, testing the boundary between materiality and immateriality. Designed with parametric design principles, the form is optimized for lightness and proportion, while its modular elements emphasize repetition and rhythm.

The glass enclosure of the building is treated with a cloudy substrate that fades from opaque to transparent. The volume is lifted off the ground and accessed through a broken stone. Inside, a fragmented stone ceiling appears to float above the space, lending the mausoleum a sense of both weight and fragility—a reflection of life’s fleeting, yet grounded, nature.

Stronghouse

Can a kit-of-parts system provide critical infrastructure for healthy communities?

In partnership with Stronghouse Foundation—the first crowdsourced housing charity in Southeast Asia—CAZA developed single-family and multi-family prototypes to provide affordable houses to families in the rural communities of the Philippines. The design employs a modular kit-of-parts approach, generated through parametric design, to create highly economical and customizable units that can be easily adapted for families with varying needs. This system reflects a strategy of distributive networks, allowing infrastructure to scale across multiple households and foster interconnected, resilient communities.

Aerial view of CAZA’s Stronghouse multifamily housing in Camarines Sur Province, Philippines, with its surrounding context.
Stronghouse

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

The single-family prototype is currently being implemented in Camarines Sur Province, with plans to roll out across the Philippines. The multi-family prototype is designed for flexibility — it can serve as individual sleeping quarters or combine into larger public facilities, creating shared spaces and stronger community bonds.

The design specifically addresses two of the most pressing challenges facing rural communities in the Philippines: the lack of functioning ventilation and sewage systems. Each year, many fatalities in the region result from cooking fume inhalation and illness from poor sanitation. Both prototypes integrate water and ventilation equipment and enable distributive networks of water lines and sewage infrastructure across units — a step toward delivering regenerative health systems that improve well-being at the scale of the entire territory.

Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.

Site studies
CAZA studied the relationship of the site to surrounding infrastructure and public resources, identifying needs that could best be served at the community level and designing prototypes that address them through modular and distributive strategies.

Single-family version
The single-family version is currently being deployed in Camarines Sur Province. The simple concrete structural system with metal roofing, based on modular built solutions, allows the prototype to be constructed quickly using local labor and materials.

Rendering of CAZA’s Stronghouse public basketball court in Camarines Sur Province, Philippines, with children playing beneath a metal roof on a rainy day.
Stronghouse

Multifamily version
The multi-family version can be flexibly partitioned or combined into larger public facilities. More than just providing basic living environments, this approach creates communities with shared water infrastructure, public spaces, and recreation areas — embodying principles of regenerative health by supporting the physical and social well-being of residents over time.

Graphic of CAZA’s site studies in Camarines Sur Province, identifying community needs and informing prototype designs.
Stronghouse
Stronghouse
Stronghouse

Rural Health Center Prototype

What could a modular health center do for rural communities?

Health centers are the backbone of a comprehensive healthcare system for rural communities without convenient access to large hospitals. A health center provides a suite of routine health services—including preventive care, immunization, minor assistance, and newborn and reproductive care—enhancing access to services in rural areas and reducing the burden on regional hospitals. Our rural health center prototype provides a modular framework, informed by parametric design, that can offer a range of health services and be flexibly adapted to respond to emergencies. The design creates a foundation for distributive networks of care, ensuring services can be scaled and shared across multiple sites to maximize reach and equity. At its core, the prototype promotes principles of regenerative health, improving the long-term wellness of communities and their environments.

Oblique view of long gabled clinic model showing roof skylight, glazed colonnade, and elevated platform casting blue shadow.
Rural Health Center Prototype

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

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Modular design: use-flexible and adaptable over time
The flexible prototype can support a range of healthcare uses while still maintaining separations that prevent cross-contamination. Highly adaptable, it can be deployed as a quarantine shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic and later retrofitted to offer routine health services. This reduces the need to build new facilities from the ground up, supporting sustainable development aligned with regenerative health outcomes.

Two section diagrams showing cross-ventilation, stack effect, and shaded corridors for a naturally cooled clinic.
Rural Health Center Prototype

Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.

Distributive networks of care
The modular prototype can be implemented across a network of rural sites, creating an interconnected system of care where resources, services, and expertise are distributed equitably across communities.

Three color-coded floor plans comparing quarantine shelter, small clinic, and large clinic with doctor/patient flows.
Rural Health Center Prototype

Simple, feasible structure
The design optimizes for quick construction, using readily available materials and a modular structure that can be built with local labor and skill. Temporary wall systems allow the interiors to be reconfigured as needed, ensuring each health center can evolve with the needs of its community.

RBA House

What defines a private space?

The RBA House reimagines domestic life as an interplay between natural and built environments, using a modular, parametric design that dissolves the conventional boundary between inside and outside. Conceived as a home that fosters regenerative health, the design prioritizes the courtyard as the central organizing element, treating the garden not as an afterthought but as the primary living space.

Exploded axonometric diagram of RBA House showing structural vaults, skylights, and program zoning with color-coded areas for public, private, and service spaces.
RBA House

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

In contrast to the neighborhood’s typical scheme—where houses sit enclosed within a garden perimeter—RBA House flips this paradigm. Here, a distributive network of living, dining, and sleeping areas forms a ring of program that frames and opens onto the verdant courtyard. This arrangement maximizes access to daylight, air, and views of greenery from every corner of the home, creating a restorative living environment.

Interior render of RBA House with high vaulted ceilings and natural light filtering through skylights.
RBA House
RBA House living space with wood batten vaults filtering daylight into a warm, textured interior.
RBA House
Poolside view of RBA House showing garden terraces and concrete vaults opening to the outdoors.
RBA House

The material palette balances raw and manufactured elements—wood, steel, and glass—expressing the tension and harmony between nature and construction. Vaulted ceilings heighten the sense of openness and continuity, while operable walls and glass expanses extend communal areas directly into the garden.

Section diagrams of RBA House illustrating three vault types—concrete cores, concrete vaults, and wood batten vaults—with natural light studies.
RBA House

Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.

With its focus on well-being, adaptability, and spatial efficiency, the RBA House exemplifies a regenerative, modular approach to private living that is deeply attuned to its ecological and cultural context.

Osmeña Avenue

How can a physical installation evoke the energy and movement of a city?

In 2012, CAZA was asked to propose a public art installation for Cebu’s Osmeña Avenue, a major thoroughfare in the city.

Street-level view of Osmeña Avenue installation with angular concrete volumes beside the road.
Osmeña Avenue

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

The project was meant to act as a gateway, a landmark that visitors and residents alike would see as a grand welcoming into the city. Our design is inspired by the movement of cars and individuals. The work is made up of several stone-like monoliths that have the words ‘CEBU CITY’ engraved into the ‘material’ using anamorphic perspective. As you get closer to the city and into the old part of town, the repeated text turns into abstracted lines of vibrant colors.

The physical structure of the project allows people to visually experience this work from different angles. This changing landmark thus becomes a marker of both welcome and farewell for people entering and leaving the city.

Public view of Osmeña Avenue installation with slanted canopy structure and crowds.
Osmeña Avenue

Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.

The installation leverages modular components and parametric design techniques to create its dynamic form and shifting visual experience, reflecting Cebu’s vibrant urban energy.

Elevation drawing of Osmeña Avenue installation spelling “CEBU CITY.”
Osmeña Avenue
Site plan of Osmeña Avenue streetscape zone with green and geometric interventions.
Osmeña Avenue

Megamall IMAX & Skating Park

How can an indoor skating rink blend into a shopping mall's constellation of amenities?

For SM Megamall—the largest mall in Asia at the time of its construction—CAZA created an amenities program that interweaves recreational experiences with the shopping areas to create a new center for public life in Manila. The programs include an ice-skating rink and a 251-seat IMAX Theater, attracting visitors from throughout Manila and generating foot traffic for the retail areas.

Architectural floor plan of the IMAX lobby at Megamall Bowling by CAZA.
Megamall Bowling

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

Bold graphic accents and sleek textures define the spaces, which reinterpret vernacular geometries through a modular and parametric design approach, creating a contemporary and inviting atmosphere that complements the mall’s retail offerings.

IMAX lobby interior at Megamall Bowling with illuminated ceiling and geometric seating by CAZA.
Megamall Bowling
Theater corridor at Megamall Bowling with illuminated ceiling modules and IMAX signage by CAZA.
Megamall Bowling

Megamall Cinemas

How should a movie theater respond to a modern, highly-mediated environment?

We have designed three new cinemas as urban spaces that foster collectivity in our highly-mediated environment. The internet is said to have so many connections that it has no inside. Our cinemas materialize a world of manifold forms and colors that represent an interiority that is beyond our immediate grasp. The act of movie-going is a collective one that promises an opening of ourselves to other worlds.

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

The floors, walls, and ceiling of each of these cinemas visualize different possible kinds of networks: nets, webs, grids, and planes fold open the limits of an interior space to suggest passages to unknown regions of our imagination. Designed using modular strategies and parametric design, the cinemas respond to specific environmental conditions such as lighting and occupation, so that the nature of the surface, the perceptibility of the space, and the sensation of the crowd change—emphasizing the critical but fragile relation between space and collectivity in the post-digital city.

Megamall Bowling

What kind of bowling alley befits the largest mall in Asia?

When the SM Megamall opened in Manila in 2014, it became the largest mall in Asia and the second largest in the world—a commercial hub designed to accommodate thousands of visitors daily. CAZA was commissioned to create one of the mall’s main public amenities: a 15-lane bowling alley complete with a billiards area, refreshments bar, and communal seating.

Megamall Bowling

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

To meet the scale and dynamism of the mall, CAZA employed modular planning and parametric design strategies, ensuring that the space could adapt to different crowd sizes and maintain a cohesive visual language. The colorful accents and zig-zagging linear lights on the walls and ceilings create an animated, playful atmosphere that echoes the energy of the surrounding retail and entertainment environment.

Malls are often criticized for being impersonal and disconnected from community life. In response, CAZA’s design integrates commerce, leisure, and social interaction into a modular spatial system that fosters a sense of belonging. By layering programmatic elements—bowling, billiards, dining, and casual gathering—within a single cohesive design, the project activates the space as more than just a recreational venue: it becomes a lively node in a larger urban network.

Entrance to Megamall Bowling with illuminated glass and seating area.
Megamall Bowling

Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.

Megamall Bowling exemplifies how modular and parametric approaches can transform a commercial amenity into a community-centered experience, balancing efficiency with vibrancy to create a memorable leisure destination.

IMAX lobby interior at Megamall Bowling with illuminated ceiling and geometric seating by CAZA.
Megamall Bowling
Theater corridor at Megamall Bowling with illuminated ceiling modules and IMAX signage by CAZA.
Megamall Bowling
Modern men’s bathroom at Megamall Bowling with blue sinks and colorful ceiling by CAZA.
Megamall Bowling
Pool table gaming area at Megamall Bowling with linear lighting by CAZA.
Megamall Bowling
Lounge and resting area at Megamall Bowling with diagonal ceiling lighting by CAZA.
Megamall Bowling
Axonometric diagram of folded metal ceiling panels for a bowling alley.
Megamall Bowling
Floor plan of Megamall bowling alley with lanes, game areas, and facilities.
Megamall Bowling
Architectural floor plan of the IMAX lobby at Megamall Bowling by CAZA.
Megamall Bowling

House of Many Moons

How can a home act as a bridge between earth and sky?

The House of Many Moons is a meditation on two modes of seeing: telescopic—looking up to the heavens—and terrascopic—looking out to the earth. This duality defines the home’s metabolic architecture, which weaves energy-conscious design and regenerative health principles into a retreat that connects its occupants to both planetary and celestial rhythms.

Comprising two tall, heavy volumes clad in natural stone, the secluded residence exemplifies a new techno-tribal aesthetic, merging modern innovation with primal materials. The house’s distributive network of social spaces is arranged around a low-slung pentagon with a central courtyard, which doubles as a thermal moderator. Below, a drum-shaped family room acts as a cooling chamber, circulating air through the house in an energy-efficient cycle.

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

Each bedroom orbits the central space and features an enclosed patio punctuated by moon-shaped oculi. These apertures create a dynamic relationship with the sky while functioning as natural venting chimneys—an example of how the design channels energy flows between earth and atmosphere. The house also establishes a counterpoint to the lush tropical environment through its constellation of manicured gardens. This layered landscape speaks to the home’s ethos of regenerative health, balancing human habitation with ecological care.

Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.

By integrating distributive networks of air, light, and energy, the House of Many Moons transforms from mere shelter into a living system—a bridge between earth and sky.

FR House

Can we bring together whimsy and rationality in a living space?

Located in the beachside town of Punta Fuego, the FR House enriches the experience of the waterfront through architecture. This cast-in-place concrete home perches on a bluff overlooking the South China Sea in Punta Fuego, Philippines. The design was guided by two goals: to integrate with the steep topography and waterfront views, and to create natural ventilation that minimizes mechanical cooling and conserves energy.

The steep, narrow site determined the project’s character from the start. To fit within its context, the house is conceived as a modular cluster of equally-sized concrete cubes resting on the slope, each oriented through parametric design strategies to maximize views of the sky and ocean while minimizing the need for traditional façade windows. This thoughtful configuration reflects an approach rooted in metabolic architecture, where spatial and environmental flows interact to create a home attuned to its surroundings.

The home takes the form of a collection of volumes arranged around a ground-floor garden. Each modular volume defines a distinct room, with a single window or skylight framing a unique view of the ocean, landscape, or sky. This deliberate yet whimsical organization creates a series of intentional, interconnected spaces that celebrate both individuality and connection.

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

The home’s two staircases become outdoor experiences linked to nature: the private stair features horizontal planters that buffer the house from its neighbor, while the public stair acts as an open, tilted tunnel connecting terrain and sky — a dynamic expression of energy and movement within the architectural form.

By using cast-in-place concrete, the design minimizes structural footprint to maximize living space on the narrow lot. The material also supports passive temperature control: it absorbs heat during the day and releases it when temperatures drop, conserving energy and maintaining indoor comfort. Raw and unfinished, the concrete lends a sense of casual sophistication to the interiors, while light wood finishes at key points of human contact — door handles, handrails — add warmth to the tactile experience.

Raw and unfinished, the concrete lends a sense of casual sophistication to the interiors, while light wood finishes at key points of human contact — door handles, handrails — add warmth to the tactile experience.

Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.

Each room’s skylight is oriented differently, framing specific views of the ocean, sky, or garden. Initially-identical modular volumes are thus transformed into unique spaces, each with its own natural light and privacy. At the top of the house, an open box connects inhabitants directly with the outside environment, embodying the home’s integration of metabolic architecture, energy-conscious design, and poetic whimsy.

Event Tent By The Bay

How can design activate an urban waterfront?

The Event Tent by the Bay reimagines Manila’s underutilized riverfront as a lively, accessible public space. Inspired by the silhouette of paraws—traditional Philippine sailboats—the structure rises on the waterfront as a series of upturned half pyramids. These modular components are conceived as hexagonal roof units, each fabricated from folded steel plates and supported by an asymmetrical column.

Axonometric diagram of Event Tent by the Bay showing structural layers and components.
Event Tent by the Bay

We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.

The pavilion employs a parametric design process, enabling the tessellation of triangular forms into a versatile system that can scale and adapt to create both an open field and a sense of enclosure. This modular logic allows the structure to activate multiple centers of activity along the waterfront, accommodating a variety of public events and gatherings.

Colored plan of Event Tent by the Bay showing layout of canopies and circulation zones.
Event Tent by the Bay

Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.

By combining a modular, parametric approach with cultural references and urban strategy, the Event Tent by the Bay offers Manila residents a renewed connection to their coastal environment—a flexible public venue rooted in tradition yet expressive of contemporary design.

Aerial view of Event Tent by the Bay showing red steel canopy structures by the waterfront.
Event Tent by the Bay
Nighttime view of Event Tent by the Bay with illuminated canopy hosting a public concert.
Event Tent by the Bay