Horizons 101 boasts of many engineering firsts

CEBU, Philippines - Beyond  being the tallest edifice in Cebu, Horizons 101 will stand in midtown Cebu City as an “engineering wonder.”

In fact, it will be the first building in Cebu “packed with firsts in engineering,” according to Joseph V. Mendoza, senior vice president for technical management of Taft Property Venture and Development Corp. (TPVDC).

Residents and locating business operators will be assured of a 100 percent power back-up and will not experience any interruption should supply from the power utility get disrupted.

While current buildings in Cebu and even nationwide are backed by power generators that could supply partial power during outages, Horizons 101 will have power generators capable of supplying 100 percent of the home owners’ requirements, disclosed Mendoza.

Each of the two towers will have four high-speed elevators at speeds of 4-meters per second (mps), which is about 30 percent faster than conventional elevators. This gives residents a shorter waiting time and faster travel within the buildings.

Horizons 101 is constructed with external pre-cast concrete walls produced offsite and installed onsite using strict quality standards, allowing Horizons 101 residents a larger living space for their families.

In addition pre-cast walls are approximately thrice the strength of the conventional masonry blocks which others use in their buildings,  according to Mendoza.

Horizons 101 will have a total of eight parking levels. For resident’s parking use, six podium parking levels and one basement are allotted. A separate basement parking is allocated for the commercial areas.

The premier condominium of Taft Property also boasts of state-of-the-art security for its residents. This includes exclusive elevator key card access and closed circuit TV. 

Primed to be the tallest building in Cebu, Horizons 101 already etched a milestone last March with the 3-day monolithic pouring of 5,600 cubic meters of concrete for its foundation.

It involved at least 500 truckloads of concrete, a volume that could cover about three kilometers of a standard concrete road or approximately 50 basketball courts.

Dr. Salvador Reyes, considered the foremost expert in foundation engineering in the Philippines, served as a resource in the design of the building foundation.

Technical studies were conducted to ensure soundness of the building design. Among others, Windtech Consultants, an Australian-based company specializing in the analysis of wind effects on buildings, structures and the environment, conducted the Wind Tunnel Test for Horizons 101.

Wind data was used by Arch’t. Benedicto Gavino, an expert in Facade Design, to establish the parameters and set design details for the aluminum and glass systems of the building.

The Horizons 101 project is backed by experts in the Philippine construction industry who have handled projects in the Southeast Asian region, noted Mendoza.

In addition to those mentioned above, they include: NSI (Narciso Santiago) – architectural design;  SY^2 + Associates – structural design; Meinhardt Philippines – mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and sanitary; and elevator design.

Mendoza himself is a respected expert in high rise building construction with 30 years of experience in one of the leading construction companies in the country.  (FREEMAN)