The new workspace

MANILA, Philippines - The standard office cubicle and the enclosed private office seem like relics of another age at the new headquarters of Rchitects, Inc., a new architectural firm headed by Bong Recio, its principal. An industry leader, Recio is credited with the design of landmark projects like Church of the Gesu at Ateneo de Manila and Shangrila’s Boracay Resort and Spa.

Identified as Jose Pedro Recio in the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the designer has set up his own firm to focus on designing end-user buildings and to encourage Filipino architecture to meet global standards. The latter is most evident in the Rchitects, Inc.’s contemporary, offices in the heart of the Makati Business District which encourages an open and airy workspace approach.

Organized around a series of large work tops, each shared by as many as six staff members, the 400 sqm. office encourages collaboration and constant communication, according to Recio. The firm’s designers can easily organize meetings by simply gathering around the any of the unassigned spread tables to discuss current projects like the GT-Toyota Asian Center at the University of the Philippines awarded by benefactors George Ty and Toyota Motors Philippines to the new firm. Each tabletop is the size of a rectangular dining table for 10.