Taco Community Center

Rebuilding Siargao 2022 - Competition Entry

The new Tabo Community Center will attempt to weave opposites - mediating permanence and permeability. The community center aims to serve as a stronghold for the residents in times of natural disasters, and so, the structure should be rigid. However, resiliency comes in many forms and it does not necessarily mean to resist and to endure. The design incorporated the concept of permeability in its form and materials, allowing the monolithic structure of the building to gracefully respond to natural elements.

The building will follow an L-shaped footprint, enclosing a courtyard, allowing the functions of the ground floor to be extended outdoors. Thus, the permeability of the structure does not solely manifest on its materials but to its spatial programs as well. An internal court acts as an in-between space that transitions and merges the outdoor environment to the indoor spaces, providing daylight and ventilation. The eaves are extended and connected to the wood screens, protecting the roof from strong winds.

The ground level will be fortressed by gabion walls and berm, acting as a structural landscape. The berm would provide resistance to storm surges and floods. The gabion walls appear solid and heavy which give impressions of security and stability, but in actuality, the gaps between its fillers allow ample light and air to pass through. The fillers that will be used for the gabion walls would be rubbles of masonry gathered from houses and structures that were ruined by the typhoon. The community center will be bordered by these fragments of memories of the residents, allowing the building to be part of the community and the community as part of the building. It also aims to give the users a sense of ownership to the new TABO and sense of belongingness with the community.