Camsur Capitol
What can a civic building mean for its people?
Successful civic buildings become powerful symbols for their communities — bringing people together, embodying aspirations, and projecting a shared identity to the world. Our design for the new Capitol of the Philippines’ Camarines Sur Province embraces the region’s landscape, material culture, and indigenous heritage to create a resilient public symbol of the Province’s strength and unity. Designed through parametric design methods and incorporating modular components, the project envisions a future that integrates culture and innovation, while advancing principles of eco-industrialization — linking civic, leisure, and residential spaces into a cohesive whole.
Location
Camarines Sur Province, Philippines
Research Areas Parametric Design
Typology Housing
Size
Large
140,469 sq. ft.
Status Under Construction
Project Team Carlos ArnaizLaura del PinoAlden ChingJun DengIgnacio RevengaGaby San RomanValentina BurattiHaoran WangMagda Fronska
We consider each project on its own terms and develop tailored responses. Learn about our vision and mission.
A new future rooted in heritage
The project envisions a resilient, forward-looking civic architecture by repurposing endangered materials from indigenous cultures and local industry. A spiraling assembly hall, shaped by parametric design tools, takes its form from Pili nut husks — a vernacular material — creating a series of roof terraces organized around a covered open-air atrium. This flexible structure reflects modular thinking, allowing spaces to adapt over time while conserving resources and energy. A dramatic helicoid ramp culminates at a public roof deck that offers commanding views of Mt. Isarog, a nearby volcano central to the Province’s cultural and environmental narrative.
Our approach is strategically driven and informed. Click here to learn about our process.
Ecological Stewardship
The building synthesizes landscape and architecture through a lens of metabolic architecture, where flows of air, light, water, and vegetation interact to sustain life and reduce environmental impact. Organic forms and renewable materials modulate light and heat, improving interior comfort and lowering energy consumption. A metal mesh of modular Pili nut–shaped elements sheathes the open-air assembly hall, shading interiors while maximizing natural ventilation. This living façade supports plantings that improve air quality, regulate temperatures, and embody the idea of architecture as part of a regenerative, self-sustaining system. By integrating leisure, civic, and ecological spaces, the Capitol exemplifies eco-industrialization, creating a vibrant hub that unites governance, community life, and environmental stewardship into one resilient landmark.
