MANILA PENTHOUSE

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This is the first major project I have done in Manila. It's a collaboration with my very talented daughter, Emilie Sydney-Smith. The two story penthouse looks out over the Polo Club and Manila Golf Club on one side and the city lights on the other.

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As a rental property we couldn't change anything ... but that didn't daunt us. Fortunately, it is a great layout ... large rooms and high ceilings and genorous, though worn out joinery. The amazing staircase dominates the space, sweeping down into the public areas from the bedroom suites above.

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We wanted to create a very sophisticated "tropical" atmosphere ... remembering all the time that everything had to revert to the original state when they moved on. So she bought truckfulls of large palms and tropical indoor plants, and literally tons of soil, and a great group of non-English speaking Filipinos created the scene.

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Much of the existing furniture was able to be reused with a few spectacular additions from European and American suppliers who are so easy to source here.

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One of the most exciting purchases was the commissioning of a three-panel screen from de Gournay. It took many months of meetings ... fine tuning everything so that it could arrive from Paris in perfect condition to be mounted on framed panels and installed above the entrance to the sitting room. This balanced the scale of the two story section of the space with the soaring staircase.

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Working here in the Philippines is quite different from Australia. I am discovering so many artisans and designers whose work fits both here in Manila and in my ongoing projects in Australia.