UnionBank Plaza
Encyclopedia
UnionBank Plaza is an office skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

 located in Pasig City
Pasig City
The City of Pasig is one of the city municipalities of Metro Manila in the Philippines and was the former capital of the province of Rizal prior to the formation of this grouping of cities designated as the National Capital Region...

, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. It rises 206 metres (676 feet) from ground level to roof, and is currently the tallest complete building in Pasig City, and the 5th tallest building in the Philippines. The building has 49 levels above ground, and 6 basement levels.

True to its name, the bank serves as the headquarters for Union Bank of the Philippines
Union Bank of the Philippines
Union Bank of the Philippines more commonly known as UnionBank, is one of the largest banks in the Philippines, ranking seventh in terms of assets after its successful merger with smaller competitor International Exchange Bank...

, the seventh-largest bank in the Philippines in terms of assets. Other tenants of UnionBank Plaza include major business process outsourcing
Business process outsourcing
Business process outsourcing is a subset of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of specific business functions to a third-party service provider. Originally, this was associated with manufacturing firms, such as Coca Cola that outsourced large segments...

 companies, like Sykes Enterprises
Sykes Enterprises
Sykes Enterprises provides business process outsourcing services, such as technical support and customer service. Sykes has over 51,000 employees at 80+ locations in 25 countries operating in 30 languages.-History:...

, Branders.com
Branders.com
Branders.com, Inc. is an American multinational Internet company that manages Branders.com, an online promotional products distributor. The company is based in San Mateo, California with a regional operating headquarters in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines...

, PCCW
PCCW
PCCW Limited is the holding company of HKT Group Holdings Limited, Hong Kong's premier telecommunications provider in the Information and Communications Technologies industry. PCCW also holds a majority interest in Pacific Century Premium Developments Limited...

, among others. However, the building's main tenant, UnionBank, also maintains some executive offices at the SSS Building in Makati City
Makati City
The City of Makati is one of the 17 cities that make up Metro Manila, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines and one of the major financial, commercial and economic hubs in Asia...

.

Design and construction

Originally the building is owned and developed by Megaworld Corporation, and was known as the World Finance Plaza, but during construction the project was taken over by Union Properties, Inc., the real estate arm of Union Bank of the Philippines
Union Bank of the Philippines
Union Bank of the Philippines more commonly known as UnionBank, is one of the largest banks in the Philippines, ranking seventh in terms of assets after its successful merger with smaller competitor International Exchange Bank...

, and was renamed "UnionBank Plaza".

UnionBank Plaza was designed by renowned Filipino architectural firm Recio & Casas, with American architectural firm RTKL Associates
RTKL
RTKL is a global architecture, planning and design firm. The firm was founded in 1946 by Archibald Rogers and Francis Taliaferro in Rogers’ grandmother’s basement in Annapolis and is now one of the largest architectural firms in the world...

 as its design consultant. The structural design of the building was handled by British engineering group Ove Arup & Partners
Arup
Arup is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom which provides engineering, design, planning, project management and consulting services for all aspects of the built environment. The firm is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the...

 in cooperation with local engineering group G.E. Origenes & Associates. Project Management was handled by Union Properties, Inc. headed by Arch't. Cynthia V. Razon. Construction Management works were undertaken by Jose Aliling & Associates, a well known project management company in the Philippines.

The building has an 8-level concrete podium as its base, while its main body is fully clad with aluminium unitized curtain wall. It has a distinctive design of having multiple corners, making it easily recognizable among the buildings in Ortigas Center
Ortigas Center
Ortigas Center is Metro Manila's second most important Philippine financial district-cum-central business district after the Makati Financial and Central Business District in Makati City. With an area of at least 100 hectares, the district is located at the boundaries of Pasig City, Mandaluyong...

.

Location

The building is stands along Meralco Avenue, cornered by two smaller streets namely Onyx and Sapphire Streets in Pasig City
Pasig City
The City of Pasig is one of the city municipalities of Metro Manila in the Philippines and was the former capital of the province of Rizal prior to the formation of this grouping of cities designated as the National Capital Region...

, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, and is within the Ortigas Center
Ortigas Center
Ortigas Center is Metro Manila's second most important Philippine financial district-cum-central business district after the Makati Financial and Central Business District in Makati City. With an area of at least 100 hectares, the district is located at the boundaries of Pasig City, Mandaluyong...

 central business district. It is a few blocks away from other major office and residential buildings in the area, as well as large shopping malls like Robinsons Galleria
Robinsons Galleria
Robinsons Galleria is a large shopping mall located at EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue, Quezon City just near SM Megamall. It is Robinsons' flagship mall. The mall is owned by John Gokongwei, founder of JG Summit Holdings and Robinsons Land Corp. It was built in 1990 with a total gross floor area of...

 and the high-end The Podium
The Podium
The Podium is an upscale shopping mall located along ADB Avenue in the Ortigas Center, a major business and commercial district in Pasig City, Philippines...

mall. It is also a few meters away from Metrowalk, a well known cluster of bars and restaurants.

Amenities

The building has a 6-level basement and 7-level aboveground level parking for its tenants and guests, and has a helipad in the rooftop. The building features an executive skylounge at the 47th floor. Other amenities of the building include function rooms, a health club, restaurants, and a spacious food court.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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