The Icone Tower (stylized as ICONE Tower), also known as the BCDA Iconic Building, is a proposed skyscraper at the Bonifacio Global City in

Taguig Taguig (), officially the City of Taguig ( fil, Lungsod ng Taguig), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 886,722 people. Located in the northwestern shores of ...

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

History

Development

In 2017, the

Bases Conversion and Development Authority The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA; fil, Pangasiwaan sa Pangkaunlarang Kumbersiyon ng mga Base) is a government-owned and controlled corporation under the Office of the President of the Philippines. It is a governme ...

(BCDA) held the "BCDA Iconic Building Design Contest" a design competition open for both Philippine-based and foreign architecture firms. The competition was for a design for the BCDA's corporate office to built at the Bonifacio Global City. Interested firms pitched their relevant experience and credentials to the BCDA which made a shortlist of five qualified firms. The shortlisted firms for the competition were NSI+Caza, Henning Larsen Architects, DP Architects Pte Ltd, JDS Architects SPRL, and J.Mayer.H And Partner + Collaborative Architecture. Only NSI+Caza is based in the Philippines. It was only at this stage that the BCDA tasked firms to come up with designs for the building. Henning Larsen Architects's design was selected as the winner of the competition and they signed a joint venture contract with the BCDA to implement the design by February 2018. The tower was projected to be completed by 2021.

Architecture and design

Designers

The Hong Kong office of the Danish firm, Henning Larsens Architects led by Design Director Claude Bøjer Godefroy and Managing Director Elva Tang will be responsible for the architecture and design of the Icone Tower. They were the winners of a design competition by the BCDA. The architecture firm collaborated with BuroHappold Engineering and landscape architects SLA for the winning design.

Concept

The design competition held by the

was for an office building standing on an area of . The BCDA required the design to be representative of the Bonifacio Global City and of "Filipino ideals". The tower's design is meant as a tribute to the

Armed Forces of the Philippines The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ( fil, Sandatahang Lakas ng Pilipinas) are the military forces of the Philippines. It consists of three main service branches; the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). The ...

the largest stakeholders of the BCDA. Its design was inspired from Filipino culture. The Icone Tower's shape was derived from the form of the

Mayon Volcano Mayon ( bcl, Bulkan Mayon; tl, Bulkang Mayon, ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano ( es, Monte Mayón, Volcán Mayón), is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is ren ...

. The

Bahay kubo The ''bahay kubo'', also known as ''payag'' (Nipon) in the Visayan languages and, is a type of stilt house indigenous to the Philippines. It often serves as an icon of Philippine culture. The house is exclusive to the lowland population of ...

as explored by

Francisco Mañosa Francisco "Bobby" Tronqued Mañosa (12 February 1931 – 20 February 2019) was a Filipino architect considered one of the most influential Filipino architects of the 20th century for having pioneered the art of Philippine neovernacular architec ...

to be a pyramidal form dividable in three layers (''silong'', ''bulwagan'', and ''bubong''; ) also served as a basis for the design. The bottom portion of tower is devoted to a public plaza which will be planted with tall trees with tropical Filipino forests as the inspiration for the landscaping direction. the middle portion will be allocated to office space while the top portion, dubbed as the Light of Manila will be public observatory and will project a beam of light, acting as a lighthouse.

Technical details

The Icone Tower has an elliptical cone shape reducing the cost to make the building resistant to earthquakes and typhoons. Its "almost Gothic" facade or exoskeleton is supported by arches. Its office space is meant to be illuminated by natural light. It will also host social spaces, terraces, and atriums. The building was originally proposed to stand tall but its height was later revised to . The tower will have 36 floors.

References

{{Bonifacio Global City Skyscrapers in Bonifacio Global City Skyscraper office buildings in Metro Manila Proposed buildings and structures in Metro Manila