When visitors walk into the Park Central Towers’ model unit designed by J. Antonio Mendoza, they change their minds for the better. Old buyers often upgrade their purchases, while new buyers get two units instead of just one.

It may be because Mendoza’s design conveys the trademark quiet elegance of Ayala Land Premier’s properties and the genteel lifestyle of its affluent buyers.

The three-bedroom unit costs P80 million or some P300,000 per square meter. It has a double-volume ceiling in the living room, a private pool villa, and three parking slots.

Park Central Towers is a two-tower development that will rise where Mandarin Oriental Manila once stood, between Paseo de Roxas and Makati Avenue. Nearly 75 percent of the first tower has been sold; the tower will be completed by 2024.

Perhaps an indicator of the robust Philippine economy, most of the buyers are Filipino end-users, not investors.

The development has everything that one expects from a luxury project—location at the heart of the Makati Central Business District and the Ayala Triangle, a maximum of only five units on the lower floors, a neighborhood of equally classy buildings. It also boasts premium finishes and fixtures from Europe, and glass walls that welcome natural sunlight and offer panoramic vistas.

Each tower is built with four, quadruple-story Sky Terraces, which include a fitness center/studio, pool, spa and lounge that offer a quiet escape for residents. There’s a lap pool on top of the podium.

The glass structures are a collaboration between Leandro V. Locsin & Partners and Singaporean architectural firm Soo Chan Design Associates (SCDA). The Japanese design group, Studio Taku Shimizu, will do the three-story retail podium.

Aquavilla

Mendoza is known for pared-down luxury and distinctive pairing of antique and modern elements. This has earned him such discriminating clients as Ayala Land Premier.

“My training as an architect is to ensure that the structure is correct. I merely enhance the space,” he says.

Park Central Towers Aquavilla includes three bedrooms, a double-volume ceiling in the living room, a glass-enclosed 93-sq-m plunge pool and deck, a contemporary kitchen, a utility kitchen and amenities area.

For the model unit, Mendoza weaves a refined lifestyle from the moment the inhabitant steps out of the private elevator. The private lobby becomes a showcase of art or stylish furniture.

Mendoza combines local pieces such as a bronze-coated resin installation of roses and a rattan mesh chair with woven wooden strips with a classic Knoll table and a modern American artwork.

Double doors, framed by glass sheaths, lend snob appeal and freshness. The doors open to a living room with a 5.7-meter-high ceiling and a view of the private four-ft deep plunge pool and deck. The deck is enclosed in glass, with a window to let in fresh air.

The architect-designer starts his scheme with a masculine palette of gray, cream and warm brown, inspired by French interior designer Christian Liaigre. He combines these tones with velvet curtains, textured wallpaper, exotic woods and porcelains in the antiques and Italian furniture.

His penchant for clean lines creates a calm, intimate and cozy ambiance that allows body and mind to rest—an urban sanctuary, no less.

A sculpture metal chandelier with flexible glass-tube joints by Roll & Hill dramatizes the high ceiling of the living room.

Adding to the coziness is the furniture that embraces the body such as an Italian wraparound sofa and a Danish Hug Chair paired with a local coffee table and stone cut side table.

Although Mendoza is not a minimalist in the strict sense, he favors sleek lines and integrates historic Filipino and Asian references.

A tall shelf is in keeping with the voluminous space. It features excavated pottery, antique Hispanic books and a sarimanok.

“I can’t have interiors with no connection to our history,” says Mendoza.

Old and new

The contrast between modern details and vintage finds creates splendor and depth. In the dining area, a smoked mirrored accent wall is punctuated by an antique carved panel from a Jesuit church in Burma.

He taps local manufacturers and artisans, such as Osmundo Esguerra whose kamagong veneer dining table is considered an “antique of the future.” A 1920s Art Deco French cabinet with a pink and gray marble top blends harmoniously in the setting.

The kitchen is equipped with Varenna systems, an Italian brand known for its pure aesthetics, solid stone surfaces and laminated cabinets. Mendoza balanced the shiny surfaces with the traditional elegance of wood in the cabinetry.

The bedrooms come with engineered wood flooring. The master bedroom has the luxury of a walk-in dressing room with drawers and cabinets by the Italian brand Poliform.

The master bathroom has a transparent cubicle housing both a rain shower and a sculptural bathtub. The bathroom tiles resemble elegant wood grains.

As a playful touch, Mendoza sets a writing desk by the glass wall so that the husband can watch his wife luxuriate in the bathtub.

A shagrin headboard wraps around the body to create intimacy while smoky mirrored walls add richer sheen.

Mendoza goes more eclectic by personalizing the space with old-world pieces such as silver and crystal, a Burmese rain drum, and crystal table lamps.

In all, Mendoza sums up luxury as a feast for the senses: “It starts with the stunning beauty of porcelain floor tile as one alights from the passenger elevator; the eclectic mix of contemporary furniture with the elegance of antiques; timeless accessories; a soaring ceiling with an eye-catching chandelier; silk wallpaper; French velvet drapes; the seamless transition of colors and fabrics in different spaces; Bang & Olufsen speakers; the warmth of hand-brushed wood floors in the bedrooms; the sensual touch of the rain shower; the cool feel of porcelain tiles in the bathroom paired stylishly with marble patterned tiles.”

To cap it, there’s Park Central Tower’s signature room scent. —CONTRIBUTED