Cover This living room designed by Ed Calma is an expansive and visually cohesive space
This living room designed by Ed Calma is an expansive and visually cohesive space
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For architect Ed Calma, designing this dwelling is an act of equilibrium, a reconciliation of control
There is a quiet calibration that defines this residence, where every decision follows logic and restraint. Its architect, Ed Calma, describes it as a layering of zones “visible from single vantage points in different positions, like a panopticon exhibiting control.” Here, transparency becomes a system, an idea that joins with experience. The façade continues the discipline, made up of “linear elements in bronze plaster and planes of natural stone and limewash,” each finish precisely aligned to its role within a measured rhythm.
Coherence arises not from flourish but from consistency of intent. “Every architectural move is tested to see if it is consistent with the idea,” he explains. “If not, there would be no coherence.” The home is a sensory reset; as you enter, a mild scent fills the rooms, conveying the family’s adherence to cleanliness in both its tangible and intangible manifestations. For Calma, configuration functions as both grammar and contour, translating abstraction into perception. “Architecture is read in the mind’s eye as the convergence of geometries,” he reflects. “The body experiences volume, texture, temperature, illumination and the scent of material as one moves through.” The result is not simply shelter but an act of thinking, rigorous yet sensorial, intellectual yet intimate.
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A composed arrival
Above Red theory in action, the supercars’ colours are mirrored by the large hanging relief sculpture at the entry foyer of a home designed by Ed Calma
Red theory in action, the supercars’ colours are mirrored by the large hanging relief sculpture at the entry foyer of a home designed by Ed Calma
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As previously noted, the first impression one encounters in this dwelling is its magnificent use of natural light. It slides across a high-gloss black slab defining the entrance, revealing density and sheen. Against this stillness, a crimson sculpture by Jinggoy Buensuceso crumples forwards and backwards in angular planes, its energy held in suspension by the tranquillity that surrounds it.
Interestingly, the piece extends into hanging consoles, serving a practical function as a table. Above, a cantilevered glass volume projects outward, its timber soffit imparting warmth to otherwise monolithic polish. The composition feels choreographed rather than constructed. Visibly behind this is the garage, where supercars in matching hues echo the Buensuceso work in outline and chromatic scheme.
Calma narrates this sequence as a conversation between movement and discipline. Ceiling heights shift almost imperceptibly, a compression and expansion in unison. “Varying the heights, widths and lengths of spaces overlapping into each other creates uncanny and unexpected transitions,” he notes. Every shift contributes to a spatial tempo that feels nearly musical. What might have been a simple threshold becomes an essay on balance, components and atmosphere.
Movement and measure
Above The staircase is a visual symphony of zigzag lines that soothe the viewer’s gaze in a home designed by Ed Calma
The staircase is a visual symphony of zigzag lines that soothe the viewer’s gaze in a home designed by Ed Calma
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The stairway is where motion and constitution meet in full. Timber atop glass sheets alternate between weight and suspension. Each ascent reconfigures the view, revealing new relationships between levels, lines, shadow and brightness. The house unfurls in fragments, never all at once.
Calma expounds, “The diagonal graining of the stone and the randomness of the lights provide movement; all the energy seems to emanate from this area.” The result is formal yet fluid, something caught mid-breath as the entry opens unobstructedly into the living room area. The main salon operates as a field of harmony rather than display. A vast painting by Arce, a swirling vortex of gold and neutrals, anchors the room, echoing the cadence of the interior.
Furniture and art are arranged with quiet exactitude: low seating, marble-topped tables, burnished metal accents. Each piece feels integral yet unobtrusive. The room becomes an act of listening, spatial relation tuned toward equilibrium rather than ornament. A smaller sitting area in notes of oat and crème brightens an otherwise dark nook, tucked underneath the staircase. In this corner, one of Calma’s sculptures stands, a sheet of white metal folded to mimic a paper plane, an allusion to the industry the owners of the home are in, which is paper.
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Above A bent metal sculpture by Ed Calma shaped like a paper plane finds a place in one of the home’s elegant corners
Above The pool area designed by Ed Calma is an oasis of serenity
A bent metal sculpture by Ed Calma shaped like a paper plane finds a place in one of the home’s elegant corners
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Purpose fluently expresses itself in the kitchen, clad entirely in satin bronze, concealing its function behind unbroken grids. Joints vanish, handles dissolve; what remains is the quiet authority of arrangement. At the centre, a dark-veined monolithic island folds down in a single gesture. The backsplash turns depth into illusion. “Every decision must be consistent with the concept,” Calma insists. The result is domesticity distilled, silence rendered intentional.
This theme of composure continues in their outdoor areas. A pool shaped as a sheet of water stretches outward, edged so finely it seems to disappear. The water’s skin meets the horizon with surgical precision, creating the illusion of suspension. When rain ripples across it, the composition shifts in concert with the weather. A wall of bamboo introduces vertical rhythm, softening the pool’s control. The effect is less landscape than meditation. Built and natural dissolve in glazed union. Stillness turns kinetic.
A private interlude
Interiors designed by Ed Calma
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The upper levels tuck in private quarters discreetly, opening like a measured drawing. Timber floors extend beneath pale plaster walls, carrying warmth into lucidity. Narrow clerestory windows admit natural lucence in bands, allowing for shadows to register with harmony.
In the principal suite graphite panels create depth and quiet gravity. Pale tones of linen and plaster expand around it, softening contrast. This leads to a well-appointed dressing room and a bathroom that greets you with mirrors suspended in glass. Behind the glass is lush greenery, which reminds the couple of their favourite hotel’s bathroom. The bathroom is in a bright neutral tone, perfectly punctuated by the vegetation outside the room peeking from the glass picture windows behind the mirrors.
Above Interiors designed by Ed Calma
Interiors designed by Ed Calma
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Warmth is expressed in a second bedroom suite, where timber and fabric combined with a softened palette create a cocoon of serene tones. Cream, honey and taupe blend across; shifts from woven softness to polished sheen. Through pale colours, the large room compresses slightly, producing intimacy and repose. An Isabel Diaz portrait introduces personality into restraint. The interiors relax in the children’s playroom, where play becomes the guiding principle. Pale oak flooring and warm timber panelling create a neutral stage. Furniture can be rearranged endlessly, changing tone and warmth through the day. The child becomes both inhabitant and author, a reminder that even exactness must yield to joy.
Beyond context
Above The home designed by Ed Calma unfolds room by room, with a linear surgical precision
Above The second-floor hallway of a home designed by Ed Calma echoes the ground floor’s composition beautifully
The home designed by Ed Calma unfolds room by room, with a linear surgical precision
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Much of contemporary style wrestles with the relationship between place and abstraction. Calma comments on this divide. “A new idea should not be limited by context,” he insists. “It must cross boundaries yet still find grounding in place. There should always be a sense of abstraction.”
That balance defines this dwelling. Its composition belongs to an international vocabulary, but its ambience—the density of air, the subtle diffusion of light—speaks of its setting. The result is work that is cerebral yet sensuous, exact yet humane. What remains unresolved, he admits, is the pursuit itself. Calma shares, “The quest for new expressions of space and form will never end. Refinement means repetition until a breakthrough happens.” The house records that pursuit: thought made visible. Design here is not a conclusion but a calibration: an ongoing conversation.
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Credits
Photography: Rafael Kryss Rubio
