The Philippine company Revolution Precrafted reaches Europe through the Ebro Delta. This prefabricated house builder, which has a turnover of more than 6.5 billion dollars in 2018, joins the Spanish architects of BC Estudios to create a luxury ‘resort’ in the city of Tarragona. A project valued at 52 million dollars, about 45 million euros at the current exchange rate.
This hotel complex is based on the ‘ glamping ‘ format, outdoor camping that has a luxury format and the conditions typical of the best hotels. “The Ebro Delta is undervalued. It is an area that has little tourism and of medium/low quality, therefore, we have seen a very good opportunity,” says Gabriel Barba, director of BC Estudio.
Under the agreement, Revolution Precrafted will supply 50 villas for this project. The contract consists of 40 one-bedroom prefabricated houses measuring 30 square meters each, as well as 10 two-bedroom villas. Each unit will have a minimum price of 171,000 euros . “Revolution Precrafted stands out for creating designer prefabricated houses that manage to satisfy all the tenants’ requests,” says Barba.
The Ebro Delta is undervalued. It is an area that has little tourism and medium/low quality, therefore, we have seen a very good opportunity”
This agreement between the Philippine company and the Spanish company is a first phase. According to estimates by BC Estudios, this land could house nearly 1,000 villas . The objective is that this ‘resort’ can start its operation in 2020. For its part, Revolution Precrafted affirms that it will start the construction of these houses in 2019. “We continue with the negotiation to detail the last fringes of this exciting project”, points out Barba . The Barcelona -based architecture studio points out that it has already had various meetings with the City Council to discuss this project.
In addition to the villas of the Philippine manufacturer, this first phase of the Delta del Ebro project includes a space of 700 square meters that corresponds to the space of the social club. “A main building that concentrates all the services: a wellness center with yoga, spa and chiropractor , a restaurant specializing in the products and cuisine of the area with 100% organic food, as well as a small events center,” he points out in the description of this mega-investment called ‘Glamping Hotel “El Silencio”‘.
Mobility with electric car
Users will not be able to drive to the door of their villas with their private car. According to the company, they must leave the vehicle in the parking lot at the entrance and their mobility in the ‘resort’ will be carried out by electric car. “The objective is to house couples and families who will be able to enjoy bungalows with pools or jacuzzis and have access to a private beach,” says the director of BC Estudios.
The landscape of the ‘Glamping Hotel “El Silencio”‘ is a point that the company highlights. “The paths and the areas in front of the bungalows will be modeled with white sand. The landscape project would be done with the existing vegetation present in the delta,” they highlight. A new camping format that has caught the attention of Filipino investors.
A sculptural volume of curved shapes and sinuous outline
Ellipsicoon is the name of the pavilion that the Dutchman Ben van Berkel, from UNStudio , has designed for the company specializing in prefabricated construction, Revolution Precrafted . A sculptural volume of curved shapes and sinuous outline, which through elliptical openings on its surface —with which views are framed and natural light is allowed to enter— perfectly blends interior and exterior. Digitally designed and handwoven by skilled artisans, with 100% recyclable high-density polyethylene(HDPE), has been conceived as a resting space for the mind. “I wanted to create a refuge with a timeless character, which goes beyond the everyday and where day-to-day worries disappear”, explains the architect. Inside, slightly raised above ground level, the woven skin that envelops the entire volume works interchangeably as a floor, wall, ceiling or a large bench where you can sit and rest.
Revolution Precrafted Founder and CEO Robbie Antonio pose with Gabriel and Jordi Barba of Barba Estudio Architects
MADRID, SPAIN, June 27, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ — Revolution Precrafted, one of the strongest unicorns in Asia, continues its expansion campaign, this time, landing its first-ever it deal in Europe.
The prop-tech company has entered an agreement with BC Estudio, a leading architecture, design and propery management company, to supply hotel and residential units along the Ebro Delta, situated in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia Region, Spain.
“We’ve always wanted to expand to Europe but we wanted a unique and high-impact project that would showcase our expertise and product portfolio. At the same time, we wanted a project that would shine a light on Europe’s ecotourism potential. We are very happy to partner with BC Estudio in spearheading a development that would further strengthen Spain’s tourism,” said Robbie Antonio, Founder and CEO of Revolution Precrafted.
Spain becomes the 13th international market for Revolution Precrafted, which is in the middle of a global expansion mode. It currently has projects in the Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica, Bahamas and Bahrain. The company expects to be present in 25 countries by the end of 2018.
The partnership between Revolution Precrafted and BC Estudio came about following the former’s recent business roadshow in Europe this June.
Antonio said Revolution Precrafted and BC Estudio have agreed to build 50 units of hotel villas on a 12-hectare lakefront plot. This represents the first phase of what is envisioned to be a 260-unit development project on a total of four plots along the Ebro Delta.
As part of the initial phase, Revolution Precrafted will build around 40 1-bedroom villas measuring 30 square meters each. It will also build an additional 10 2-bedroom villas on the lakefront plot. Each unit costs a minimum of $200,000.
The villas on the initial phase, will be accompanied by a main clubhouse measuring 700 square meters.
Gabriel Barba and Jordi Barba partners at BC Estudio said the tourism potential of the sites are significant considering their location. BC Estudio will work in collaboration with local partner office in the delta del Ebro, Actua B Arquitectura.
The Ebro Delta is one of the largest wetland areas in the Western Mediterranean region. A large part of the delta was designated as a natural park to protect the wide variety of flora and fauna identified in the area. The Delta is composed of a mosaic of coastal and wetland habitats. It also has some 95 breeding species of birds. The wetlands are considered highly important for over 300 species of a wide range of transient and overwintering species and serves as an essential stopover point for large numbers of migratory birds and waterfowl.
On top of these, the Ebro Delta is also popular among tourists for its amazing beaches, sand dunes, rivers and lagoons. It is also one of the best fishing and water sports areas in Europe.
“We are very excited about this partnership with Revolution Precrafted. We have always wanted to create elegant, design-driven homes and villas that would cater to the thousands of tourists that visit the Ebro Delta all year-round,” Barba added.
Meanwhile, Antonio said the development of the masterplan will take several months while the construction of the hotel villas will start in early 2019.
“We are keen on completing the plans for this project by the 3rd and 4th quarter of this year with the intention of starting land development in early 2019.
ABOUT REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED
Revolution Precrafted is a global supplier of designer, limited edition homes, pavilions, retail spaces and related structures.
Over the past six months, it has bagged over $7.36 Billion worth of big tickets projects including the $3.2 Billion partnership with Seven Tide, for “The World Islands” in Dubai, and the $1.2 Billion Okkyin project in Myanmar with KT Group. Last month, it signed a $300 million dealership agreement with Novo Development Ltd. to build at least 1,000 homes in the Caribbean nations of Trinidad and Guyana, Jamaica and the Bahamas. It also landed a deal to build 85 luxury resort villas in Okinawa, Japan and 2,000 housing project in Puerto Rico with Grupo Cacho. It also recently announced its franchise agreement to supply mid-income homes in Ecuador and a 500-unit project in Bahrain.
In the Philippines, it partnered with Century Limitless Corporation for the $1.1 Billion Batulao Artscapes in Nasugbu Batangas, the $750 Million Revolution Flavorscapes in Mexico, Pampanga and the $125 Million Puerto Azul residential project.
ABOUT BC ESTUDIO ARCHITECTS
BC Estudio Architects is an architectural firm located in Barcelona with 40 years of international experience in the world of architecture design and pioneers in Green Architecture. It currently has business presence in North and South America, Europe and Asia. On top of its architecture, interior design and landscape architecture services, it also conducts real estate advisory and management for select clients.
Revolution Precrafted Revolution Precrafted 7938985 email us here
Ebro Delta, Spain. Photo credit: Lobito/Pixabay (Startup real estate developer Revolution Precrafted has signed a deal with Spain-based property management and architectural firm BC Estudio to enter Spain’s hotel market.)
Startup real estate developer Revolution Precrafted has signed a deal with Spain-based property management and architectural firm BC Estudio to enter Spain’s hotel market, according to a report from the Business Mirror.
Revolution Precrafted and BC Estudio will develop hotels and residences on the Ebro Delta in Spain, the Revolution’s 13th international market. The properties—50 hotel villas on a lakefront site—are part of the first phase of a 260-room project spanning four plots on the Ebro Delta in Tarragona, Catalonia.
The companies will also build approximately 40 one-bedroom villas along with 10 two-bedroom villas on the lakefront during the first phase of construction. The villas will share the plot with a main clubhouse. The entire development will be complete within several months. However, the construction of the villas is slated to being in early 2019. Both Revolution Precrafted and BC Estudio expect to complete the plans for the entire project by the third or fourth quarters of 2018 and to begin the construction on the development in early 2019.
“We’ve always wanted to expand to Europe, but we wanted a unique and high-impact project that would showcase our expertise and product portfolio. At the same time, we wanted a project that would shine a light on Europe’s ecotourism potential. We are very happy to partner with BC Estudio in spearheading a development that would further strengthen Spain’s tourism,” Jose Roberto R, Antonio, Revolution Precrafted, told the Business Mirror.
BC Estudio has planned to partner with local firm Actua B Arquitectura to develop the project. “We are very excited about this partnership with Revolution Precrafted. We have always wanted to create elegant, design-driven homes and villas that would cater to the thousands of tourists who visit the Ebro Delta all year-round,” Gabriel Barbra, a partner at BC Estudio, told the Business Mirror.
Revolution Precrafted has a pipeline of hotel projects in the Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia, the UAE, Japan, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Guyana, Jamaica, Bahamas and Bahrain.
Revolution Precrafted’s houses are designed by world-famous names in the architecture and design scene. (Modular Glass House by Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects / Photo sourced from Revolution Precrafted social media)
A unicorn has finally arrived in the Philippines. In October last year, Philippine-based startup Revolution Precrafted, a company that develops and designs prefabricated homes and hotels among others, raised its series B round of funding co-led by Singaporean venture capital firm K2 Global. The round of funding raised an undisclosed amount that brought the startup over the billion-dollar mark, making it the first unicorn to come out of the Philippines.
Revolution Precrafted – also referred to as Revolution – was founded in December 2015 by young Filipino millionaire, Robbie Antonio. Having gained unicorn status just before turning two last year, the startup is the fastest to hit the billion-dollar valuation mark in Southeast Asia.
In interviews, Robbie Antonio has always likened himself as a young visionary, who wants to innovate architecture and disrupt the current real estate market. Robbie’s knack for the real estate business probably comes from his father, who owns Century Properties in the Philippines. During his time working for his father, Robbie was the brains behind the company’s multi-million-dollar deals with big names such as Forbes, Versace Home, Missoni and more. It was there he learnt the power of working with brands.
“I realized what branding can do to a development. It can increase your sale price vis-a-vis your competitors who might even have a superior location. It also sells faster,” he said.
Coming from one of the wealthiest families in the Philippines, Robbie has picked up the hobby of art collecting. His penchant for art is what inspired him to start Revolution Precrafted. Similar to art, Robbie wanted to make architecture collectible. According to Robbie, “Revolution preserves the exclusivity of art collection and by introducing prefabricated technology, expands the potential of ownership.”
Just like how IKEA would deliver furniture to your house, Revolution Precrafted does the same except you could have your entire house delivered to you. The concept of prefabricated homes offers an easy solution for people who want to own an exclusive house but have no idea how to design it. With Revolution Precrafted, interested customers could just go through the company’s catalogue and pick out a design they like. Then all the necessary materials will be delivered for it to be assembled on the selected site. Revolution Precrafted doesn’t just sell prefabricated homes but they also have a collection of prefabricated condominiums, pavilions, adaptive amenity spaces and more.
The idea of a prefabricated home might bring to mind the dread normally associated with generic designs and shoddiness, however that is not the case with Revolution Precrafted. Robbie has enlisted the help of some of the biggest names in architecture and design to develop the startups’ prefabricated structures. Among them include Pritzker Prize winners Zaha Hadid and Jean Nouvel, renowned architecture firm Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects and rockstar Lenny Kravitz’s Kravitz Design team. To own a house designed by some of these world-famous people would set you back about US$140,000.
The idea of prefabricated homes and buildings has long existed in the world of architecture, only the idea never really took off. Leveraging this idea with the branding power of big name designers, artists and architects, Robbie has managed to reverse the negative reputation of prefabricated homes by turning it into something exclusive and desirable.
Revolution Precrafted is now sought after in the tourism industry for its modern designs and affordability. In March, Revolution Precrafted signed a landmark US$3.2 billion deal to manufacture luxury apartments and hotel villas in Dubai’s famous The World Islands. Then in April, the startup tied up a US$300 million deal in the Caribbean for the supply of its prefabricated units.
Robbie expects the company to grow bigger and expand to more countries in the future. Revolution Precrafted looks ready to revolutionise the real estate market.
The 41-year-old developer builds pre-fabricated houses designed by some of the world’s most famous architects
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, 432 Park Avenue in Manhattan: Robbie Antonio likes big, bold statements. And big, bold expectations.
Be different. Stand out. See your 18-month-old product in 85 different countries by 2020. Pre-fab can be, well, fab. That last statement may be oxymoronic now, but Antonio and his Manila-based Revolution Precrafted, the modular building company launched at the end of 2015, are set to upend the perception and the reality of pre-fabricated homes, with hotels and restaurants and pop-up retail to follow.
Antonio specifically chose “crafted” not “fabricated” in the name to educate the market. “The preconceived notion is trailer homes. They’re not,” the 41-year-old builder and developer said. “Now you can have something [pre-fabricated that is] designed by a Pritzker Prize-winning architect.”
That’s exactly what he’s doing: creating pre-fabricated buildings designed by the world’s greatest and most recognizable architects, including some who have won the industry’s most prestigious award to sell to developers and landowners. (There have been others who have done this before, but not at Antonio’s scale.)
Paulo Mendes da Rocha + Metro for Wallpaper, Jean Nouvel, Christian de Portzamparc and Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects have created Revolution homes. Ron Arad, Patrik Schumacher (the principal of Zaha Hadid Architects) and the Campana Brothers are on the list of multipurpose pavilion creators. And if starchitects don’t appeal, you could settle for a space designed by a rockstar (Lenny Kravitz, with Marmol Radziner) or model (Helena Christensen, with Camilla Stærk).
Many of Antonio’s professional relationships are the result of years in the business, his whole life, really, working with his dad Jose E.B. Antonio, who founded Philippines-based real estate development firm Century Properties in 1986 and still employs his sons. Robbie, responsible for hospitality, lifestyle and leisure at Century Properties when not focused on Revolution, is the third of four. He developed his family’s first building outside Asia, opened in 2009, after obtaining a M.B.A. from Stanford University. That’s the Centurion, at 33 West 56th Street, a ground-up, 19-story condominium designed by I.M. Pei.
Other relationships are new, like the one with Stærk & Christensen, a New York-based firm that designs everything from eyeglasses to shoes, and now a Revolution home and pavilion. A Stærk & Christensen spokesman said Antonio came to the firm by way of a mutual friend. “We met with Robbie, had a great creative exchange and here we are!” the spokesman said
A PHILIP JOHNSON/ALAN RITCHIE ARCHITECTS-DESIGNED PRE-FABRICATED HOME BUILT BY ANTONIO’S REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED.
The home, a take on a Scandinavian cabin, will be among the options developers have when they choose Revolution for their projects. So far, Antonio said, that includes a $300 million agreement with Trinidad and Tobago-based NOVO Development for 1,000 or more residential units in the Caribbean, a $1.2 billion agreement with Myanmar’s KT Group for homes in Yangon, and a $3.2 billion deal with Dubai-based Seven Tides for villas on nine of The World Islands. Designs and master plans are in the works.
Batulao Artscapes, in Nasugbu Batangas, Philippines, the $1.1 billion world’s first liveable art park (bold statement!), is in the first phase of construction now. The project is a partnership between Revolution and Century. Hiking and biking trails, art studios and museums, restaurants, retail, 8,600 homes, you name it, it’s coming to Batulao’s 346 acres, 50 miles south of metro Manila, Antonio’s primary home. He has multiple homes, including in Midtown Manhattan, and has a goal of having one in every country in which Revolution communities are built. That’s 85 by 2020. His own goal. His own expectations. “It works against me when people pressure me. The pressure has to come from me. I’m inherently like that,” he said. “When I want to do something, I want to do something.”
Another goal: having a presence in 20 countries by the end of 2018. They’re half way there, including franchise agreements. Revolution has a staff of more than 400, of which about 60 are in finance, accounting, legal, HR, marketing, business development, product, engineering and architecture. Everyone else is sales.
We met Antonio at Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery at 693 Fifth Avenue when he was in the city for meetings and auctions at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. The week before he was in Dubai and Bahrain. The week after he had plans to be in the Middle East, followed by a nine-country European roadshow, “to try to enter Europe in a massive way.”
Stylish in Dolce suit and Berluti sneakers (he has the same style in seven colors), Antonio said the one thing he cannot leave home without is his three phones, piled in front on him on the aluminum, limited edition, Vincent Dubourg coffee table. He laughed when he noted two are Blackberries.
When he’s home, on weekdays, Antonio wakes at 5 a.m., checks email, works out with a trainer for two hours, gets to the office by 9 a.m., is at it until 6:30 p.m., has another workout, then is back to his computer. The double workout is not about stress, he said, it’s habitual, and a way to balance the times on the road when he cannot do so. “It’s important to me and it’s fun,” Antonio said. “It’s an interplay. I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t fun for me.”
He loves Kappo Masa, the Masayoshi Takayama (chef) and Larry Gagosian (art dealer) restaurant in the basement below Gagosian’s gallery at 976 Madison Avenue.
A DANIEL LIBESKIND-DESIGNED PRE-FABRICATED HOME BUILT BY ANTONIO’S REVOLUTION PRECRAFTED.
“I’m a man of repetitive stuff,” he said with a twinge of self-deprecation after revealing some recent dinners: the Mark Hotel, Harry Cipriani. Exploring, he said, with respect to his adventurous friends, takes so much time. Still, he’s fascinated by new places—his upcoming Europe trip includes his first time in Portugal—but maintaining his accelerated pace requires some ease, and things familiar (and delicious) offer just that. “I don’t want to think about [everything] so much,” he said. “Now I’m entering a market where I’ve never even been. That’s an exciting feeling. Super scary,” he said, suddenly recalling his four years in New York City following grad school, seeing the Centurion site every day, planning. “It’s so different. I’m looking at the entire thing as one big playground, for work.” He means the world.
“Here’s the map,” he said, mimicking a possible conversation, with himself, “Why can’t we be here? Why can’t we be in Mauritius two weeks from now? Why aren’t we closing in Kenya?”
Besides looking at potential projects in Portugal and Spain, and immersing himself in pre-fab-friendly Scandinavia, Antonio is scheduled to speak in Berlin at the NOAH Internet Conference, an event for executives, start-ups and investors, hosted by NOAH Advisors, a Cyprus-based corporate finance firm dedicated to the digital industry. Also presenting: Al Gore, as chairman of Generation Investment Management, and Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber.
Antonio is one of the unicorns—a start-up valued at more than $1 billion—attending. There are less than 300 in the world, including Airbnb, Compass, e-Shang Redwood (a pan-Asian logistics real estate developer and operator), WeWork and Uber. Antonio doesn’t talk valuation specifics but concedes Revolution is worth over $1 billion. In Berlin he’ll discuss how he’s using technology to disrupt the housing sector.
In New York he notices that water offered and accepted by this reporter is being ignored, so gestures, like, “would you care for some?” then leans forward on the upholstered Pierre Jeanneret bench seat to open the bottle. “Clearly I didn’t invent this space,” he said about pre-fab as he pours a glass for this reporter. He brings us back to the early days of Revolution, the initial research stage, when he considered attributes of mega-successful start-ups and recognized which would work for him: No capex (no inventory, asset-light), global presence, uses technology in a specific way. He recalled asking himself, “What can I do in the real estate sector that would juxtapose those three things?” He decided to explore the idea of being a global developer without being a developer per se, but being a supplier. “Pre-fab was a means to the end. It was not because I wanted to create a pre-fab company. I wanted to be present, be ubiquitous, in a myriad of countries, and that was the only way to transport, literally a structure, from one venue to another.”
He’s well on his way in his race to outperform himself, and it started with his dearest question and motivator: What can I do differently?
Revolution Precrafted, a homegrown supplier of prefabricated structures, is making its debut in South America.
The company said it awarded a franchising agreement to Innovation LLC for the supply of mid-priced residential units in Ecuador.
This would be the company’s 11th international market.
“This franchise agreement with Innovation LLC is a strategic move for the company. It allows us to tap into a huge South and Central American land bank. This supports our goal of extending our reach to at least 20 to 25 markets this year,” Robbie Antonio, founder and CEO of Revolution Precrafted, said in a statement.
Under the deal, Revolution Precrafted will supply mid to luxury residential homes and villas to Ecuador, through Innovation LLC.
The latter is finalizing agreements with large real estate developers in Quito, and surrounding cities. The development deals will be announced in the next few weeks, Revolution Precrafted said.
“We want to support the economic development of Ecuador by providing design-driven residential units for the middle-class residents and migrating expat community,” Antonio said.
Revolution Precrafted and Innovation LLC are also looking for possible developments in Guayaquil, one of the biggest cities in Ecuador.
Revolution Precrafted has been on an expansion spree, bagging over $6.63 billion worth of projects over the last six months.
Revolution Precrafted, one of the strongest property technology companies in Asia awarded a franchising agreement to Innovation LLC, for the supply of mid-priced residential units in Ecuador, a move that is expected to further boost the company’s reach, as it finally enters the lucrative South and Central American markets.
“This franchise agreement with Innovation LLC is a strategic move for the company. It allows us to tap into huge South and Central American land bank. This supports our goal of extending our reach to at least 20 to 25 markets this year,” Robbie Antonio, Founder and CEO of Revolution Precrafted, said. He said Ecuador is the 11th international market for the firm.
Under the deal, Revolution Precrafted will supply mid to luxury residential homes and villas to Ecuador, through Innovation LLC, which is finalizing agreements in with large real estate developers in Quito, and surrounding cities. The development deals will be announced in the next few weeks.
Ecuador, located near the equator, is surrounded by Colombia and Peru. It has a population of 16.5 million.
With the help of fast-moving developer Robbie Antonio, Camilla Staerk and Helena Christensen are redefining the meaning of a designer house.
The creative duo behind the New York-based design studio Staerk Christensen are the newest boldface names to align with Antonio’s Revolution Precrafted Properties. Recruiting fashion-minded talent to reimagine a prefab house was new territory for the ardent art collector and enterprising developer. Antonio runs Antonio Development in New York and is managing director of Century Properties in Asia. He has collaborated with Giorgio Armani for Armani Casa, Versace and Missoni among many others.
Staerk and Christensen impressed him with their well-defined intent and clear-eyed directives.
Staerk and Christensen join the ranks of other Revolution collaborators including Jean Nouvel, Marcel Wanders, Tom Dixon, I.M. Pei, Zaha Hadid and Philip Johnson.
Originally hired to handle the interiors, the pair were so assured in their vision that they were asked to take on every last post and beam. “They said, ‘You know, you guys have so many opinions about how you want the structure to be for the furniture you’re designing. So why don’t you just do the whole house?’’ Staerk said. “We could not believe they gave us that whole responsibility. We couldn’t believe it but we definitely thought they should.”
Traces of Staerk’s and Christensen’s Danish roots are evident in the dual-level, two-bedroom, two-bathroom prefab home. Inspired by a traditional Scandinavian cabin, their design is a glass and stained black wood house. The curved structure is meant to be reminiscent of a swallow in flight. However unlikely it might sound, they enhanced their design with inspiration from the craftsmanship of a viking ship. The silhouette of the swallow-inspired home resembles the hull of viking ship turned upside-down, they explained.
“Ships hulls have the wingspan of a bird. To us, that means a lot. Both of us grew up in Denmark. The sound and the visuals of swallows flying low on summer nights is just something that stayed within us. It’s a very peaceful place for both of us to go back into in our memories,” Staerk said.
Designed to be built anywhere in the world, the first prototype for each structure may be set up in Malibu or Montauk so that potential clients can walk through and experience the house firsthand. As with any prefabricated home, the structure requires a good amount of land and then is built for you. With shipping and building, the $228,000 unit can be somewhat altered to accommodate the climate that the buyer lives in.
Staying true to their healthy Scandinavian upbringing, the duo is also creating a spa pavilion for $27,300 and a gym for $153,000. Through the years, rugs, lamps, glassware, interiors, furniture, pillows, throws and bedspreads and even glamping-quality safari tents are categories they have delved into. With the help of the Brooklyn-based Bower, the duo is creating a mirror collection which will include a wardrobe-screen divider that also can double as a martini bar. And glassware is on deck with Danish company Mater, with furniture to follow. These new endeavors are expected to debut around the same time as the Revolution prototype.
While Staerk earned a degree in fashion and textiles at Ravensbourne College in London, the “absolutely self-taught” Christensen has designed lamps for Habitat and gleaned knowledge from the legendary photographers as a model. “I really can’t think of a career that gives you more versatile options of branching out, learning and absorbing everything you possibly can if that’s what you want. I guess that’s what I did. With our combined background and knowledge, we get by,” Christensen said.
That need to always be learning and searching means they often can’t write down, sketch or photograph their ideas fast enough — a habit that other friends might not be so accepting of. And even though they each approach creativity with a different lens, somehow it all comes into focus. “When we met, we were so different and in that difference we found a common ground. Camilla’s form of expression, the way she looks visually, the pieces she designs, the homes she lives in is completely opposite of mine — in all ways. Somehow over the years we have approached each other in all ways — first and foremost as friends, but also learning from each other and opening up to each other’s differences,” Christensen said.
“We spur each other on,” Staerk added. “We clicked creatively from the first time we met. It was from immense respect for each other’s work. Then we found this way of expression together and we just felt so lucky.”
Below is the transcript of an interview with Revolution Precrafted Founder, Robbie Antonio. The interview will play out in CNBC’s latest episode of Managing Asia on 1 June 2018, 5.30PM SG/HK (in APAC) and 23.00 BST time (in EMEA).If you choose to use anything, please attribute to CNBC and Christine Tan.
Christine Tan: You know Robbie, we’re here at this 150 hectare park at Batulao Artscapes which you call a living Art Park. What can one experience by living here?
Robbie Antonio: I’ve seen other art parks around the world and many of them are just museums and you get to see art and then you go back home. Imagine living in it. Imagine living in a David Salle house, Elizabeth de Portzamparc house, and really being surrounded by this magical environment.
C: What is the price point? How cheap can a prefabricated housing be?
R: The house and lot here is less than 50,000 dollars which is about 3 million pesos or so
C: Your family has been in real estate for almost 30 years. You started Revolution Precrafted in 2015 to essentially create a startup for prefab housing. How did you stumble upon the idea?
R: I come from the real estate world and I’ve been doing this for over 10 years. In New York, I built my own company called Antonio Development where I did a project in the Plaza District, the most sought after area in all of Manhattan, close to Central Park where nothing has been made in 20 years. So when I did that with Mr I.M Pei, it was the first round of residential products I had ever done. At the very early age of 28 I started the idea of positioning buildings in a proper format, came back to Manila and did a flurry of branded towers with fashion companies such as Armani, Missoni and Versace. I did Trump Tower and also projects with Hollywood icons such as Paris Hilton where I did 9 towers with them. In mid-2015, I wanted to do something extremely disruptive. I wanted to be an asset-light, no inventory business and global.
C: So you were tired of the old model?
R: Yes, to begin with, and second I was looking at major unicorns like Airbnb and Uber from miles away and I basically said this to myself: “What do they have in common?” I asked myself this for a straight week. No inventory, asset-light, using technology and truly global.
I feel that I’m a man of the world and I did not want to just do projects here in Asia. I wanted to look at the world as if it were all the same country and I wanted to be global without being asset heavy. Then it just dawned upon me. It was like a Eureka moment, an epiphany in the middle of 2015. I wanted to investigate an industry called the prefab market, a space which allows you to get from Point A to Point B very succinctly.
It’s a means to the end, not the end. The end is to truly be everywhere, ubiquitous, and I wanted to be prevalent and omnipresent in all the regions of the world. I’ve told my team I want to be in 25 different countries this year, 55 by next year, 85 in 2020 and possibly go public then.
C: You’re not worried about cannibalizing your family’s real estate business?
R: Why would you talk about cannibalization when you should be talking about complementary businesses?
C: How so?
R: We’re in Batulao, it’s a 145 hectare development. This specifically is a Century Properties Development, the only 1 I’m doing out of 11 countries and all the master plans we have closed. Case in point you have David Salle’s house there, Elizabeth de Portzamparc’s house here. Most of these developers outsource construction and supplying of construction to an entity anyway so that’s adding value, not cannibalization.
C: So I know it’s your own business but what did your father say when you told him about it?
R: I told him after the fact. I said this is what I’m doing, I’ve been working on this and I’m recently launching this in Miami Art Basel which had just happened a week or 2 weeks before. So I’m very independent, I’ve always been an independent person. To be emancipated and to really feel empowered is something that is integral to my existence.
C: You literally introduced brand to the whole concept of prefabricated housing by listing well known designers like the late Zaha Hadid and Tom Dixon to create these pre-fabricated housing for you. How do you get these high-end well known architects and designers to create something? They’re so used to big budgets, how do you get them to create something at a fraction of the cost? How big a challenge was it?
R: That’s the point. That’s why it was so intriguing for a lot of people and that’s why it was so intriguing for me. I always say in business that if someone’s in, I’m out. So that really means I always want to be a first mover in anything I do, and for this particular case as you just stated a lot of these brands are used to doing mega mansions or mega museums. Jean Nouvel’s did the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a billion dollar project but now we’re doing a Jean Nouvel museum here for not even 0.5% of that. So it was this antithetical rationale and business concept that was intriguing for them.
C: They took it as a challenge?
R: Of course! If you have the foremost brands in design and architecture doing really expensive structures with probably no budgets at all, you get people to think a little bit more. That sets parameters like a mathematical equation and gets people to challenge themselves more.
C: I can understand architects, but you recently just signed on Manny Pacquiao –
R: That was last night, haha.
C: What has boxing got to do with housing?
R: I’m going to do sports cities around the world with him.
C: That’s your latest addition?
R: That was yesterday, he’s our 76th one. I told everyone in my office that I’m going to stop when we hit 100 and take a break.
C: How did you convince Manny Pacquiao to sign with you?
R: First we’re the only branded housing company in the world, bar none. So ultimately it’s a choice of doing it with some entity that has not done it or it’s not within their business plan, or doesn’t understand the full ethos of high impact design and doing it at an accessible price point.
He’s a humanitarian and that’s what I like about him. So we’re talking about creating sports cities and fitness centres under his name and his design, possibly even his land and really trying to change his neighborhood. That’s what I found also enthralling about the entire conversation, and we’re going to go after it. I don’t go for brands just because they’re famous; I go for people who are relevant.
C: So, you’ve got housing, you’ve got this, and you’ve got sports cities and sport complexes, what’s next?
R: At Revolution we’re doing multiple products in multiple geographies. I want to be in 6 regions in the world pretty much everywhere in the world. We’ve hit 4, definitely Asia with our projects in Myanmar, Philippines and Indonesia. For Dubai, our mega project in 9 islands in the world, we’re a foreign group doing something there where not even locals have actually announced so it has been something really interesting to us. I just came from Bahrain where I spoke and we’re definitely going to enter that market as well.
C: But what’s next? Office towers? Skyscrapers? What’s next for Robbie Antonio?
R: We’re going to go vertical, and we’re going to do prefab condominiums and prefab hotels later on this year. We’re actually going to do an Art Hotel here which is still relevant to the art concept. Aside from just creating products, we also engender creative and ingenious concepts for different master plans.
C: Revolution became profitable barely a year after it opened for business.
R: Yeah, the first quarter actually.
C: Did you ever think you would be so successful so quickly? You’re actually the Philippines’ first unicorn startup
R: I mean, I knew we were going to be successful, but I didn’t know the speed with which we were going to achieve this. A lot of these other mega startups, so-called unicorns have unbelievable valuations which raise a billion dollars so on and so forth, but I wanted to stay true to the integrity of the firm to be an asset light business model and to be everywhere.
C: You’ve signed up more than 7 billion dollars in deals in countries like Puerto Rico, Japan and Dubai, in more than 10 markets. Which overseas markets are you eyeing next?
R: I’m going to Europe next week, to 8 or 9 different countries. Scandinavian countries love modular prefab systems and I’m going to Norway, Sweden, Finland, also going to Poland as well and Spain. But this is a night each, this is no vacation. I haven’t had a single day of vacation since I started the company.
C: I understand the basic concept of your business model is that you manufacture parts of the home in the factory then you ship them on-site before assembling them like Lego bricks. How big a challenge is that, logistically?
R: Extremely complex. The prefab business has always been a fragmented industry, meaning that American prefab companies cater mostly to American end users and you go straight to retail. Asian ones are catering to Asians, Malaysian ones are catering to Malaysians and so forth, and it’s the same thing in Europe.
C: So you try to build the factories close to your projects?
R: No, that’s why I have a network, because the orders are coming from different parts of the world. In some cases for example Batulao is not all, fully prefab. Some are inserted on site in terms of some of the components.
C: So it’s basically cheaper to do it that way?
R: Yes, and faster. This goes back to the value proposition of Revolution. The first is speed, we’d like to say we produce things – we used to say at least 90 days, but now I produce in 45, 60 days.
C: So how safe is your housing, Robbie?
R: These are rigorously tested from the factories which go up to 250km/h seismic conditions to the highest degree, so these are very strong robust structures.
C: So just to clarify they can withstand a bad typhoon or a bad hurricane?
R: Why do you think we’re shipping in Puerto Rico and why do you think our orders are coming from there? Didn’t they just have a massive hurricane there last year? This is exactly why the value added is also helping people get to the points they usually can’t get to. For example, Islands, Dubai the World Islands is perfect. Puerto Rico, Vieques is perfect.
C: So you’re actually solving the world’s housing shortage problem?
R: In a way. I mean think about it right? It’s not all about design anymore. The amazing thing about it is it’s not a want, it’s a need and that’s something we’re trying to solve here.
C: I know you’ve done the math, so I know you’ve worked out how much it costs in terms of transportation costs and shipping, give me an idea how much it costs to actually ship such a big structure to market?
R: It’s actually not that much. Our containers ship a little bit over a thousand US Dollars only, so some of these homes can be put in 2 or 3 containers and you can do the math, when it gets from one point let’s say Southeast Asia to Australia.
C: So you’re inking all these multimillion dollar deals everywhere across the world. But are you investing enough in factories to support the kind of growth you see overseas?
R: We have an amazing network of global fabricators, and depending on where their orders are coming from and from which region in the world, I basically make that call and start producing these homes. So it’s a really B2B2C model where we partner and form a joint venture or we supply to a developer and they turn it out to the end user, and so far the sales have been super robust. For example, our project in Lakeshore Pampanga, the world’s first livable food bar, sold over a 1000 homes in about 2 months so it’s very enriching to see that people appreciate what you do.
C: Are you upping your investment in factories? What sort of amount are we talking about?
R: Absolutely. Ultimately later on I’d like to have different networks of different fabricators, but I’m not at that point right now. I’d like to create my own because I’m literally a control freak.
C: You want to set up your own factory?
R: Yeah.
C: When will it happen?
R: As early as this year actually. I’m already having conversations with amazing technology providers and we’re just going to go make the investment
C: So how many of your own factories do you ultimately want to have?
R: Ideally I’d like to have 1 per region, so ultimately that will be 6. I’ll start with Asia because that’s where most of the orders are coming from.
C: So, late last year, you’ve actually raised an undisclosed amount of money in your second round of funding from Singaporean venture capital K2 Global. Given all these deals you’re inking and your need for investment in factories, how soon before your next capital raising exercise?
R: I’m probably not going to do a Series C because we don’t need the money until maybe next year. We’ve gotten good fresh round from institutional investors and large family offices so I think it won’t be until next year when I have hundreds or thousands of these homes already and different master plans to show, and I’ve reached the goal of hitting the 25 countries we have to have penetrated by the end of the year.
C: What are your plans to take Revolution public? What are you looking at?
R: I mean there are only 2 ways to go to exit out of this or to maintain it. One is to sell it to a company.
C: Are you interested in that?
R: Look, the biggest homebuilders in the world are in America and they’re worth 10-13 billion so how can they buy some entity which should be selling at more than that? So the only way to go like many of the unicorns you’ve seen is to go public
C: Where would you list?
R: Probably America, UK, or Singapore
C: What sort of time frame are you looking at?
R: Maybe 2020 or 2021.
C: Give me a sense of how big you will be in 2020?
R: 85 countries, we hope – north of several billion dollars of revenue a year.
C: North of several billion dollars?
R: That’s for sure
C: What are you talking about, 10 billion, 20 billion?
R: No, that’s probably a valuation but that will be very difficult to achieve in terms of revenue and high profitability. The greatest thing for our business would be if we can achieve the sort of scale where we can be truly global, supply everywhere, and be very highly profitable.
C: What is highly profitable to you? What sort of figure are you looking at?
R: 30, 35% margin
C: And is that something you’re looking at?
R: So, think about it. We have total project revenues about 7.2. About a 3rd of that goes to construction, that’s our revenue. So you can just do the math accordingly and then we make about 30% of that, so that’s what we’re expecting from the current deals. I haven’t even got to Europe yet though, but that’ll be next week.
C: Do you worry about expanding too fast?
R: Do I worry about expanding too fast? I don’t think I’m expanding fast enough in fact.
C: Really?
R: I’m a man of instant gratification and quite frankly I need to see things done very quickly. Expediency is integral and I always say my biggest weakness which is actually my biggest strength as well, is my impatience. I like to see things in a jiffy.
C: Will you be happy just heading Revolution Precrafted? Is there something else in the pipeline you want to kick off?
R: Not at all, I don’t think this is the ultimate legacy.
C: What other things are you planning?
R: I think we’re doing something great here.
C: But what projects would interest you? Does it have to be a 100 million dollar idea or 200 million dollar idea?
R: No, it’s got to be a several billion-dollar idea for me to jump and be excited about something, and it’s not just about the math believe it or not. It’s about truly changing the way people think about something. That’s what really interests me, the challenge of that. The sheer challenge and difficulty of achieving something that is seemingly insurmountable challenges me.
C: You father is well known Philippine real estate tycoon Jose Antonio of Century Properties. You’ve joined him in the ranks to be among Forbes’ 50 richest in the Philippines. How does it feel like to create your own business, to be successful in your own right?
R: It’s obviously gratifying. I know a lot of people and friends from different countries who are of the 2nd or 3rd generation and I respect that but I respect the founders more. I mean growing a business is very impressive, but starting a successful business is the most difficult thing.
C: So you don’t want to be seen as the 2nd generation, you want to build something in your own right, in your own right?
R: I’ve already done it, so I think that’s the point of this exercise. And look, I don’t know what you call that, insecurity. Sometimes when I interview people I actually like people who are because they always have something to prove and when you have something to prove you work harder than everyone else.
C: You have something to prove all the time?
R: To myself. Not to anyone else, but to myself.
C: So your family is in real estate, your father obviously running Century Properties. Any valuable lessons you picked up from him over the years as young boy watching him grow his business?
R: I mean I obviously thank him because my love for real estate came from him so I will never take that away from him. But the desire to do something differently, the desire to create something is truly inborn and sort of innate with me, so I always try to innovate, disrupt an industry or industries.
C: Whether it’s Paris Hilton, Lenny Kravitz or Adrien Brody, you in particular hang out with the who’s who in the celebrity world. What’s it like having friends in such high places? Is it mostly business or mostly pleasure?
R: First, I don’t just hang out with celebrities. I mean a lot of people think that but a lot of it is they’re my friends. Some of them are my very good friends or my best friends. To me work is play; to me a trip in Spain has got to be filled with meetings aside from other things. It’s all intertwined in one.
C: So you always try to find a way to turn a personal relationship into a business relationship? You’re always looking for an opportunity?
R: I always think, “Is there a deal here?”
C: So when you’re talking to Lenny Kravitz or Adrien Brody, you’re always thinking is there something I can do with them?
R: I bet you half of them are thinking the same way! So I might as well just make the first move, some of them may come to deals and some of them may not be deals and that’s really ok,
I get back to them in a couple of months or weeks when I have something formidable because I want everyone to be excited by this.
C: You’re one of the most well connected young Filipinos today. You’ve been described as someone with a magnetic personality that no one can say no to. Are you really that persuasive when it comes to closing a deal?
R: First I think I give the value proposition in a succinct and formidable manner where they can truly understand it and buy into it. I think obtaining 76 of the world’s best architects and designers is not an easy thing and I’ve been doing this prior to this, so I’ve totaled it to about 84, probably more than any human being in the world
C: So you just turn on that Robbie Antonio charm to get people to say yes to you?
R: No, I mean, I think it’s just my personality. I’m very much driven by obtaining these things
C: Do people ever say no to you?
R: Of course some people do. Very few, but some people do. Most say yes and we’d like to keep it that way
C: You’re 41 years old, born in the Philippines. You studied many years in the US, got your Economics degree there, an MBA from Stanford, spent 5 years working in the US, joined your father’s business in 2009, and then really founded Revolution Precrafted in 2015. How would you describe your leadership and your management style? What is Robbie Antonio like?
R: I’m hardcore. I have an almost West Point type of leadership, military style. In fact I love interviewing military people, people who have business backgrounds because they’re very disciplined. I wake up my team up at like 4:35 in the morning.
C: You wake them up at 4:35 in the morning?
R: Yeah, I basically Whatsapp all of them and I ask for reports and all that and I’m probably the last person they hear from in the evening.
C: Is it true you have a rule in the office where employees have to answer a text or an email within 10 minutes of getting it and accomplish the task within 24 hours?
R: Yeah, that is correct and if I don’t hear from them, I have 1 of my assistants (and I have 4) contact them to get me a response.
C: Why is speed important to you?
R: Because it’s always a race. People say it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, but I strongly disagree. It’s both, it’s always a sprint and then you need to be sustainable to make it a marathon.
C: And finally as one who’s won awards and really made the journey, what advice would you give other young entrepreneurs on how to build great disruptive businesses?
R: Think bold, always think big and achieve it no matter what people say. Be passionate, be obsessed, do it all. Know your rights and never, never, ever give up. Once you give up it becomes a habit and you don’t ever want that to happen.
