TEFFE//
A harmonious blending of the main elements of the project has been achiev- ed. Two wide flights of steps off Militar Street lead to a landscaped open court- yard to give a distinctly memorial tone to the main entrance to the centre.
To the left and front of the elevated plaza is the low two-storey structure housing the memorial hall, memorabi- lia, the Asian library and the offices of the award foundation. To the right the plaza flows into the main floor of the office tower, where a central trunk contains four high-speed gearless pas- senger lifts and stairways.
Stairs from the main floor lead down into a parking basement, storage areas and a cafeteria. The basement accom- modates 83 cars and there is additional parking space off M.H. Del Pilar Street from which the entrance to the parking basement is located.
The 14 upper floors of the office tower rise to a height of 220ft. The tenants may lay out their space in any manner since the offices are entirely free of columns and are equipped with underfloor ducts and fittings. A con- crete roof deck takes the mechanical and electrical equipment and water storage tanks.
Floor areas of the centre are as follows:
Basement
sq. metres 2,850
Memorial hall and foundation offices Ground floor of office tower (part of plaza) Structural floor (used as storage) Typical office floors (14 floors)
1,462
854
854
11,956
Machine rooms on roof deck
140
Total
18,116
Structure
The concept of separating the foun- dation offices from the commercial tower called for an unusual structure and the design of the tower block is the first of its kind in the Philippines. Floor loads are transmitted through peripheral columns to a structural floor, then down to the 12 large columns and central core, all of which rest on pre- stressed piles.
Some 245 prestressed concrete piles. 16in. by 16in., driven to resist a mini- mum level of 150 tons each, provide the foundations for the shear walls that enclose the lifts, stairs and utilities, and for the twelve 48in. square reinforced concrete columns. These columns, to- gether with the full height beams be- tween third and fourth floors, become the foundation of the 64 columns around the perimeter of the tower.
Night view of memorial hall from the elevat- ed open courtyard. The hall columns are faced in travertine and the exterior walls in bush-hammered concrete
Open ground floor area beneath the tower block, showing one of the massive marble- clad columns which, with the central core, support the upper 14 floors
Far East BUILDER, December 1968
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