The Taguig City government announced on Monday it is set to construct a state-of-the-art city hall building along Pedro Cayetano Boulevard in Barangay Ususan.
The new executive building will be a 17-story structure unified by the “strategy of contrasts” concept “• an effort to strike a balance between old and new, true to Taguig’s way.
“We have dreamed of this new city hall for a very long time,” said former mayor and now Taguig 2nd District Rep. Laarni Cayetano in a speech during the groundbreaking ceremony days before she turned over her functions as city chief executive to Mayor Lino Edgardo Cayetano.
“It does not just boast modern facilities and innovative technologies, but also mirrors the good governance of Taguig City,” she added.
Mayor Lino Cayetano, for his part, considers the new building as a testimony of the selfless leadership in Taguig for the past nine years.
“The city, under the leadership of Mayor Lani, opted to prioritize school buildings, health centers, hospitals, a senior citizen center and a PWD (person with disability) center among others, over a City Hall for her,” Mayor Lino explained, highlighting that Taguig became progressive because of the honest and effective Cayetano leadership.
The future city headquarters will showcase the competence, identity, and potentials of Taguig, and will align with Mayor Lino’s vision of responsive, relevant and resilient infrastructure in the city.
The entrance will be a massive travertine wall with two glass protrusions. A lower four-story glass cube will welcome guests to the Convention Facility and city hall. This cube itself will have a seating capacity for a banquet of 600 people.
The structure itself will express both hospitality and a “we are open for business” vibe. On the fourth-floor main lobby, in view of the nature thriving on the 14-storey atrium, clients can clock in their devices to charge while waiting in the windows. There will be transaction lobbies in every floor.
The city hall will be totally PWD- and women-friendly. Women’s toilets will be bigger than the men’s so long queues would be avoided.
City Hall employees will start the daily grind with a pleasing view of the fifth-floor atrium leading to their working areas. It will generously welcome natural light.
The double-storey lobby will be a grand space to accommodate public function windows and business transactions.
Employees will love holding meetings. The city hall will have big and small meeting rooms in every floor that can host 20- and 8-person meetings. Teams might also want to meet at the facilities on the upper-level roof-deck garden.
City Hall will not simply be known for its modern scheme. It will be replete with details paying homage to the city’s “probinsyudad” spirit.
Housing the Office of the Mayor and the workspaces of the direct staff will be a structure inspired by the indigenous “bahay na bato” architecture. On the 12th to 15th floors, this will be a rectangular glass box punctuated with stainless ventanillas. The frame will light up at night, making it an unmissable sight.
Two rooftop gardens will provide an overlooking view of Taguig. The first rooftop garden will be on the top of the Convention Center and Assembly Hall, an area with meeting pavilions, a garden with ponds, as well as a food court and a gym. The second one will thrive high above, on the 17th floor, conducive for outdoor dining, lounging and exercise.
The Parking Podium will be as green as it gets, with flowering shrubs and high shade trees expressing a park-like atmosphere. The above-ground parking space will accommodate more than 308 cars and 265 motorcycles.
The building and side facades will be dotted with stress-relieving terraces and balconies, rain harvesting irrigation facilities and plant boxes.
Architects Dan Lichauco and Dennis Guran, and Engineer Art Santos will oversee the construction of the new city hall until its expected completion within 2021. The target is to open the convention center after two years and the rest of the building later.
Better structures have been central to Taguig City’s agenda, with leaders convinced that these would provide a more efficient service for citizens.
Standing on this principle, public school buildings underwent a major up-do. Among the more recent projects is the seven-storey, 21-classroom, fully air-conditioned Signal Village National High School building, fitted with an elevator and roof deck.
The building is fully furnished with chairs, blackboards, tables, electric fans, and other facilities. It was inaugurated in May 2019 as part of celebrations for the 432nd Founding Anniversary of the city.
In April, Taguig opened the Center for the Elderly. It is the country’s pioneer wellness hub for senior citizens. It is a five-storey building along Ipil-Ipil Street, North Signal Village, offering facilities for rest and relaxation to Taguigeño elders raring to recharge.
New additions to the city-run hospital “•Taguig-Pateros District Hospital “• were opened earlier this year to provide better and more efficient medical services to Taguigeños. These projects include the new Emergency Room, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit, and Outpatient Department.
