The Philippine pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is starting to take shape, with its 50 percent completion expected by the end of the month, Reliability Accountability Quality Contracting revealed to The Filipino Times.
All the teams involved in the construction of the country’s pavilion, also known as the ‘Bangkota’ are exerting full effort in the spirit of Filipino bayanihan.
“Right now we’re at 20 per cent completion as all groundwork and foundation are finished. Steel erections are now ongoing and we are working 24 hours just to achieve the target and completion date,” said Mohannad Bayyoud, Senior Project Manager at RAQ, the company behind the construction of the Philippine Pavilion.
Progressive Phases
Bayyoud explained that the series of meetings for the construction began around November last year when they met the Philippine team, led by Budji Royal Principal Architect and CEO Royal Pineda, whose team spearheaded and masterplanned the design of the Philippines’ ‘Bangkota’.
“We started around November last year. We had many meetings and proposed our concept with them. We submitted the drawing end of December and we got approval after 20 days, around January 20, 2020,” shared Bayyoud.
The ongoing steel erections will be completed by the end of the month. “Our target plan to complete the steel structure is within one month. After the steel erection, our next project for the pavilion will be the external cladding,” said Iron Makers Steel Industries Project Director Omar Al Tabatibi, the company in charge for the structure.
As of press time, all the groundworks and foundation are in place. This will be followed by external cladding, mechanical, electrical, plumbing works (MEP), as well as internal finishing works, power, and landscaping in the coming months.
“After the external cladding and MEP around April, we will do epoxy, tiles, main aluminium curtains, ceramics, sanitary, ceilings, paintings, finishing works, power, landscaping and others until we finish the project by July 20,” explained Bayyoud.
Construction Manager Nabeel Adili said: “When we finish the landscaping when we put the trees and the plants, now you will feel that you are in the Philippines. It’s also being done by a Filipino.”
Modern Bayanihan
Pineda shared that the collaborative effort between the Philippine team, the UAE-based construction team, as well as other multi-cultural and multinational entities responsible for the construction of the Philippine pavilion reflects the spirit of ‘Modern Bayanihan’ but this time, it’s taking place on a global scale.
“The concept of bayanihan is like all the neighbors, you call them, ask for help, and they help. This is modern bayanihan because we are collaborating with international experts. The Filipinos helping each other with international experts also helping us, fulfills our dreams,” said Pineda.
Sustainability at its core
Bayyoud said that like the Bayanihan concept of the Philippines, majority of the materials used to create the pavilion will be sourced locally.
“Most of the materials will be here from Dubai in the local market. For someone who’s living in the UAE where around a million Filipinos live, this is a big challenge for me as the main contractor, for him (Pineda) as the designer for each visitor to feel that they are in the Philippines when they enter the Pavilion,” said Bayyoud.
Since majority of the materials are recyclable, it makes for a high-impact investment for the Philippine government as it is the first pavilion that will be reinstalled in the Philippines after the Expo 2020 concludes in April 2021.
The pavilion will be dismantled, shipped, and reconstructed back home as a permanent exhibit at the Clark Freeport Zone in the Philippines.
“What’s good is that the materials can be recycled. And most of the items generally are to be shipped to the Philippines. So what’s left behind are the very minimal ones. So in terms of sustainability, we’re able to really not just make it sustainable but I think it’s also being prudent because this is the government’s money. This is the people’s money. And we want to make sure that the country spends the money properly. And it’s a high-impact investment because, again, this is totally changing the mindset of the people, of the Filipinos. So I think in the end, it is really the ripple effect that it will create once we’re able to bring this investment back to the Philippines,” explained Pineda.
Sharing his vision behind the ‘Bangkota’, Pineda revealed that beyond the outer beauty of the pavilion lies the real treasure.
“The main highlight is we really want it to feature the nature of the Philippines. And the nature of the Philippines is not just the islands, not just the beautiful landscapes, the seas and the underwater, but it’s also the people. That’s why we are presenting it and we are in the sustainability area but we are not just presenting technological sustainability.
Promoting Philippine identity
“We are presenting cultural sustainability about our people, how we work together with others, how we welcome others, how we relate to others. I think that’s a strong Filipino identity. We need to understand that we need to be rooted as people – not just Filipinos, every nation, every race has a root but then, we should all progress into a better human being,” furthered Pineda.
Expo 2020 will open next year, October 20, 2020 and will run till April 10, 2021 for a total of 173 days. Timings run from 10:00 am to 1:00 am on weekdays, and from 10:00 am to 2:00 am during weekends and special days.
