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southwestern corner of the property. Due to its proximity to the sea, water at higher levels is mostly salty and brackish. However, clear and clean fresh water was encountered at a depth of between 1,100 feet to 1,200 feet. Water is free flowing and needs no pumping. An underwater rein- forced concrete water tank with a capacity of 100,000 gallons was con- structed at the rear of the property. It is filled by mains water and the deep well.
KITCHEN AND CAFETERIA
The rear portion of the building is occupied by a modern kitchen and
Desks
▲ Policyholders' service area. Large glass doors open onto two long rows of marble columns. have been set out in saw tooth formation to provide privacy.
spacious cafeteria. It is separated from the office areas by the inside patio. The cafeteria is divided into two areas: the western half is closed and airconditioned and the eastern half open, although it is covered by a roof. The kitchen has two big walk- in freezers for meat and vegetables, icemakers, ice cream freezer, dish and glass automatic washers, long electric- ally heated counter that keeps the
It is filled with water from the mains and well.
NO DOLLARS
Due to the size of the building and the big quantities of materials of dif- ferent types needed. procurement be canie a big problem. In cases where there was only one agent in the country for a certain type of material the annual importation quota was often not enough to meet requirement. A good example were the elevators. Almost 80 per cent of the agent's annual import quota for three years was used to import them.
Other materials and equipment had to be procured through barter. The dollars used in importing the curtain walls from England had to be advanced by C. V. Starr & Co., mother company of Philamlife. through a special arrangement with the Central Bank, allowing payment to be made when the dollar situation of the country improved. Cement and steel supply were the most critical stages when the concreting was underway.
This picture taken during the middle phase of construction work shows workers putting up the aluminium mullions and pipes of the outer walls.
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