Faculty of Design

Environmental Design - Interior Design Specialization

Kate De Leon

The Kubo Project : Filipino Community Centre

The Kubo Project reimagines a monolithic office building in Toronto’s Bathurst and Wilson area—home to a thriving Filipino community—into a vibrant cultural hub that celebrates Filipino identity, heritage, and belonging. Inspired by the bahay kubo—a traditional Filipino nipa hut, known for its openness, lightness, and connection to nature—the design blends vernacular architecture with contemporary strategies to create a space that is both rooted and forward-looking.Key interventions include lifted volumes on stilts, open canopies, and a central atrium that allows air, light, and people to move freely—symbolizing openness and connection. Woven façade screens, jalousie windows, and generous natural lighting reference traditional design elements while enhancing comfort and transparency. A material palette of natural wood and modern concrete reflects the dialogue between memory and modernity.The hub houses a communal kitchen, event space, café, sari-sari store (a small neighborhood convenience shop), art gallery, library, and shared office space—bringing together food, culture, work, and community in one place. Ultimately, the project aims to centralize Filipino culture within Toronto’s urban fabric, fostering pride, gathering and connection, and collaborative growth.

“This thesis proposes the adaptive reuse of a monolithic office building into a Filipino cultural hub, employing woven spaces and spatial strategies inspired by the bahay kubo to create a welcoming, community-driven environment that celebrates cultural identity and belonging.”