00:00The cost of the construction of the new Senate building increased to more than P31 billion based on the last account of the DPWH.
00:11According to a property consultant, it is possible that the cost of the construction will increase as time goes by.
00:16Ma'am Gonzales has the story.
00:21This January, the Senate will submit a plan for the new Senate building,
00:25which was sometimes called by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as the most expensive house in the Philippines.
00:31According to the last computation of the Department of Public Works and Highways,
00:34the cost of the building will reach P31.6 billion.
00:38If you compute the total floor area of the new Senate building, which is more than 130,000 square meters,
00:44the cost of each square meter will be more than P240,000.
00:50Based on the 2024 estimates of the construction consultancy Arcadis,
00:54the most expensive construction cost for a high-rise office of this quality is P92,000 per square meter.
01:00The most expensive fit-out or the designs inside, including the walls, ceiling, ceiling, plumbing, and others, is P91,000 per square meter.
01:10If you add it up, the construction and fit-out cost for the most expensive office is P183,000 per square meter.
01:18However, the cost for the basement parking is not included.
01:22According to David Lee Chu, a property consultant,
01:25it depends on whether the 131,570 square meters is a usable space or a construction floor area
01:32to say if the cost here is reasonable.
01:36If that is based on the construction floor area, which means including the parking,
01:42including the garbage room, machine room, and all that, at P240,000, that sounds like a lot.
01:51That is probably the most expensive building in the Philippines, if those numbers are true.
01:56So let's say it's not, and the P241,000 square meters is based on the usable space.
02:03What will remain there is the hallways, elevator lobby, ground floor lobby, office space, plenary hall, etc.
02:11Then that might sound reasonable.
02:15Now the next question is, how high-end is high-end?
02:19The construction cost range is large because it depends on the materials and facilities that will be built.
02:25Some things that will move that number.
02:29If you start to have very specialized facilities,
02:34like an auditorium with soundproofing and high-tech sound systems,
02:42that number could be anywhere.
02:44It will be a big range.
02:46Lee Chu added that the design of the new Senate building is really expensive,
02:51with four towers and a diagonal design.
02:54The engineering cost of the structural works for a building like that design
03:01is much higher than if it was a simple straight column building.
03:05So the columns are not straight vertically, it's diagonal, and that's very expensive.
03:12So there are certain costs that are unseen, like literally unseen,
03:18because it's inherited, embedded in the structure.
03:22As time goes by, construction costs will increase due to inflation,
03:27currency exchange rate, and the closure of many suppliers from China.
03:32I think value engineering is always possible,
03:35especially when they haven't completed the building,
03:39and I suppose they haven't completely purchased all the materials.
03:45That cost is dramatically changing because we are now in the most expensive part of the building,
03:51which is the finishing.
03:53Where finishing material is almost 100% imported.
03:58The genset elevators, air conditioning systems imported, tile works imported,
04:04cabling, actually it started with the glass.
04:07The glass is almost always imported.
04:10The longer it takes, the more expensive it will be because of the currency.
04:15In the last report of the Senate Committee on Accounts Chair,
04:17Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, the target for the completion of the new Senate building is by 2027.
04:23For GMA Integrated News, Mav Gonzalez, Nakatutok, 24 Horas.
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