Stackable Sand Clusters Blend Farming and Fishing with Tourism | Designs & Ideas on Dornob - Feed https://dornob.com Architecture, Interior and Furniture Design Thu, 07 Aug 2025 23:57:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 Stackable Sand Clusters Blend Farming and Fishing with Tourism https://dornob.com/stackable-sand-clusters-blend-farming-and-fishing-with-tourism/ Mon, 25 Oct 2021 21:00:22 +0000 https://dornob.com/?p=84319 The Filipino island of Cagbalete is getting a unique beachfront property soon – one that combines native industries like farming and fishing with an element of recreation and tourism. The Cagbalete Sand Clusters, designed by Carlo Calma Consultancy Inc., was created for a client looking to build

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]]> The Filipino island of Cagbalete is getting a unique beachfront property soon – one that combines native industries like farming and fishing with an element of recreation and tourism.

Exterior view of the Cagbalete Sand Clusters, designed by Carlo Calma Consultancy.

Spacious transitional patios and walkways inside the upcoming Cagbalete Sand Clusters.

The Cagbalete Sand Clusters, designed by Carlo Calma Consultancy Inc., was created for a client looking to build a second home during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020. With a goal of “farm leisure,” the 9.4-acre property will contain a four-bedroom residential unit for the owner, a farm-to-table restaurant, ponds for growing and harvesting mud crabs, a garden for fresh vegetables, a lighthouse, multi-story walkways and performance spaces, and lower-level swimming grottos.

Guests enjoy sandy seating in the Cagbalete Sand Clusters' public areas.

“Since this is an agricultural land, the project has to be built in an ethical way with a faster and less wasteful construction method,” said chief architect and firm founder Carlo Calma in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “Looking at the site, we set up a mud crab farm to prevent soil erosion. The mud crabs will eventually be part of the restaurant’s menu.”

Backlit view of the Cagbalete Sand Clusters reveals several strategically placed solar umbrellas.

Not only will the food be grown and caught on site, but the energy needs will also be self-sustained. Traditional solar panels are incorporated into custom sun umbrellas to generate the power required for the residence. “There are things in market that don’t have quality in design. We are turning these panels into sculptural pieces that are functional and sustainable even on a small scale. Its application of technology starts with the house,” Calma explains. Open-air ventilation will also help keep energy costs to a minimum.

Calendar diagram shows how the Cagbalete Sand Clusters' inoovative design maintains maximum energy efficiency all year long.

The actual structure is made up of a series of hyperbolic pods that can assembled in multiple configurations. “The units can be stacked like LEGO blocks or pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle. One unit consists of five modules that you can rotate, flip, or move around in different ways. You can make different spatial arrangements out of them. Every unit will be unique,” added the London-trained Calma. The curving shape was inspired by the ocean coral found just off-shore from the property.

Person lounges on a large sunbathing net outside the Cagbalete Sand Clusters.

Tables at the Cagbalete Sand Clusters sit around a serene pond, with large sunbathing nets hanging down overhead.

Luxurious swimming grotto inside the Cagbalete Sand Clusters.

Each module will be fashioned from noncorrosive materials, including glass fiber reinforced concrete and glass fiber reinforced polymer rebar, to combat the destructive influence of salt air. The design also integrates local hapa nets as shade, sunbathing hammocks, and mosquito protection. “They have elevated the humble hapa net into something beyond its utilitarian origins,” the project’s official press release states. “It is now both part of the structure’s construction membrane, a tool for food production, and a web that facilitates the daily activities of the structure’s inhabitants, enmeshing time, culture, and space.”

Aerial view of the Philippines' upcoming Cagbalete Sand Clusters

Construction of the Cagbalete Sand Clusters is underway, with the residential unit on track to be completed in December 2021. Mud crabs have already been planted in the area for cultivation.

Cagbalete Sand Clusters lit up at night.

Carlo Calma Consultancy Inc. was founded in 2009 in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Philippines, as an art and architecture firm that aimed “to push boundaries in design thinking, architectural practice, and construction.” The developer has created dozens of residential and commercial buildings to date, best known for their geometric and organic shapes, as well as their art installations throughout the country.

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