Santos Land Bajada Site Office

Report on the options for the structure of the Obsidian

Hotel
Date: February 27, 2018
The hotel portion of the Bajada site development has been designed as a reinforced
concrete structure (RIC). The structural engineer was also asked to supply a design
for a steel structure so as to evaluate the two options for construction. This paper
and its attachments presents this comparison.

There is a need to complete the hotel at or very near the time of delivery of the
condo due to the site development plan which has all traffic to the condo passing
through the hotel building. Major construction activities at the hotel will delay the
delivery of the condo if still ongoing. Thus it is important to choose construction
techniques carefully. Further there is little space separating the condo and hotel
buildings and this has construction delay ramifications.

There are reasons for each type of construction. These were presented by Eng.
Pama earlier (see attachment 0ne). Cost differences in the two alternatives are
presented in table two. Here are the options that are available to us now:
1. Build a RIC building as original planned with an updated design which is just
now complete for bidding as of February 20. We have an old Architects
estimate that does not reflect the design changes but is amended and used
in table 2.
2. Build and structural steel framed building with a design which has already
been subjected to bidding for budget purposes;
A. A bolted design with steel fabricated by professional shop and delivered
to the site for erection by a qualified local contractor.
B. A welded steel design prepared and supplied to the site by a recognized
steel shop for erection by a qualified contractor either local or regional.
a. Grade A50 Steel supplied by others
 b. Grade A50 Steel purchased by SLDC and fabricated and erected by a
local qualified contractor.
Why use a steel framing?
A. The fabrication of steel is by steel professionals in a shop.
B. The offsite fabricator does not affect ongoing construction by the current
contractor, there is no demand for existing contractor labor.
C. The fabrication is fast in a shop and would be available by the time the
foundation is ready.
D. Erection of steel, especially bolted steel, is faster than RIC and quite simple.
E. Steel erection takes fewer personnel than RIC.
F. In summary the steel structure can be executed as parallel works with
ongoing construction saving overall construction time.
Why use a reinforced concrete structure?
A. It is conventional for much of the PI.
B. The design can be completed by the existing design team.
C. Many contractors can execute a concrete frame.

Draw backs of steel frame design:

A. Not yet widely used in Davao.
B. Requires steel workers to erect and there are fewer of them in Davao.
Draw backs of a RIC frame design:
A. Work must be sequential and cannot be fabricated in advance or off site
thus will be slower than steel.
B. Requires many more workers for forms braces and finishing works.

The issue of simultaneous completion of the hotel and condo as well as the ability
to do parallel works with steel tend to favor the steel construction method. The
close quarters of the site also favor steel construction as fewer worker are
required. There is always the possibility of using two separate contractors for the
hotel and condo but the close proximity of the buildings and the small site beg
troubles between the two contractors. Not with standing these it is the
recommendation of the site management that we select a steel framed building.