on trays from floor to floor. Papers are simply placed inside the con- veyor, and а dial set for the floor wanted. As soon as the con- veyor reaches the floor indicated, it automatically pushes out the tray and continues its journey to other floors.
INSIDE PATIO
Inside the building between the front office area and the cafeteria, is a spacious open patio with a big meandering pool and garden. Two concrete bridges span the pool for easy access to the cafeteria. The sides and bottom of the pool are lined with pebbles. Underwater lights. at the side of the pool and two foun- tains have been installed. Water in the pool is constantly circulated by a pump at the basement producing bubbles and ripples. At the western end of the patio is a circular can- tilever stair case winding up to the second floor promenade deck.
INTERIOR PARTITIONS
All interior partitions between offices and corridors are of hardwood and glass panels on extruded alum- inum frames. These partitions are designed for quick re-arrangement if
necessary.
This is important and necessary for a progressive company which is con- stantly expanding. All the interior columns from the second floor up to seventh floor, the stools up to the window sill, are veneered with solid Narra boards to match the interior partions. Interior columns at the ground floor and the core walls up to the seventh floor are finished with local marble slabs. The row of exterior columns fronting Isaac Peral street and all exterior concrete sur- faces are finished with white glass washout.
FLOOR FINISH
On the ground floor. all public areas, lobbies and corridors have terrazo marble floor finish. Office areas, including the auditorium, have vinyl asbestos tile flooring and the kitchen floor is of quarry tiles. The auditorium stage has a wooden floor. All toilets have vitrified mosaic tiles for flooring and vitrified glazed wall tiles up to the ceiling. Also finished with mosaic tiles are the promenade deck roof and the sidewalks along Florida and Isaac Peral streets. Oflice areas on the upper floors have vinyl asbestos tile flooring except the ex- ecutives' private offices which are carpeted.
SOME FIGURES
About 70,000 cubic yards of earth were exavated to provide the basement of the Philamlife building. A total of 4,024 hardwood piles, gathered froc the forests of Bataan and Bicol, with a total length of about 45 miles and a cubic volume of 117,000 feet were driven into the ground to form the earthquake proof founda- tion.
On top of these piles, a flat slab of concrete two yards thick, reinforced with eight layers of steel bars, weighing 760,000 pounds, was poured during 10 days and nights of continuous non- stop work.
Steel from Philippine mills totalling about 4,500,000 pounds, 68,000 square feet of marble quarried in the province of Bulacan, and 250,000 bags of cement were used. Air ducts and pneumatic tubings for distribution of conditioned air throughout the building total nearly 10 miles in length.
Incandescent light bulbs, numbering 2,000 and 9,567 fluorescent lights provide illumination.
Electric power is provided through four transformers, with rated capacity of 3,000 KVA, a unit of the size that served, until recently, the city of Dagupan,
The electric and telephone wires installed in the building, if placed end to end, would extend for a distance of more than 200 miles.
PIPING INSTALLATION
There are several new features in the installation of all the pipings, conduits, and duct work. Plumbing fixtures are wall-hung and no pipes, supply or discharge, pass through the floor of the toilet proper. Service pipes are confined inside a pipe chase adjacent to the toilet room which is readily accessible and wide enough for a man to enter and work inside. Leaks and other defects of the piping system can be easily seen as they are in the open and repairs and main- tenance can be done without breaking any floor or wall. No pipes whether for water, sewer, storm drain, etc., embedded in concrete walls, columns or floors and they do not affect the structural strength of the building.
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AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEM
The building is air-conditioned by the chilled water system. The water is chilled by two compressors, each with
The a capacity of 600 tons. chilled water is then pumped to weathermakers where it cools the air 60 There are passing through it. weathermakers distributed through- out the building. The chilled water rises in temperature after pass- ing through weathermakers so it is pumped un to the deck roof where five big cooling towers are located. The water is aerated and cooled in these lowers and then returned to the compressors for chilling and the start
THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 19. NUMBER 1
of another cycle. A sizeable amount of water is lost in this cycle, mostly at the cooling tower, due to evapora- tion especially during hot weather. It is estimated that this loss will amount to approximately 70 gals. per minute on the average.
AUDITORIUM
At the eastern side of the building is a fair-sized theatre with 878 com- fortable seats. The acoustics are ideal for recitals, concerts and plays. Fully airconditioned, it has all the appur- tenances of a first-class theatre. It has a projection room for movie shows and green room for live plays. Around the lower portion of the walls is a wood-carved mural depicting the pro- gress of Filipino culture. The outside walls have a glass mosaic tile finish to the ceiling level. There is an orchestra pit in front of the stage, the floor of which can be raised to the theatre floor level during conventions, or higher up to the stage level in case additional stage space is required. Rubber floor tiles were used for the aisles.
DEEP WELL AND WATER TANK
The operation of the building depends upon a steady supply of water. It was estimated that an average of 100,000 gallons of water would be consumed daily. To supple- ment the water supply from the water lines, a deep well was sunk at the
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