Christmas with a Cause

It should be easy to do Christmas. It’s a worldwide celebration that tends to allow for a global design template. You can have a snowman and fake snow in the tropics, and mangers with farm animals in the city centers. If you have glitter, gold, green and red, you’re basically ready to go. And if you’re ever unsure about managing scale, simply go big or go home.

But the brief we got for a unique project presented a specific challenge: The Zuellig Building in Makati City is a thoroughly modern high-rise. On top of that, it has received certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). Our client wanted us to decorate the space for the holidays with something traditional yet modern, and with some environment-friendly feel.

Our solution was to obtain huge tree trunks and paper stars crafted from recycled newspaper. But we had to be careful with the execution—those materials can easily look tawdry. We found a supplier who would produce the special recycled trims based on our design, and we sourced natural materials that we fashioned into chic trims.

The project came out exceedingly well. We were able to deliver traditional touches that people can relate to, but we also added a twist that made it eco-conscious.