Continue reading]]> Bangbang, Cordova, barangay hall office is in an isolated area at the topmost part of the barangay. It is close to the sea and is surrounded by mangroves.

Bangbang was derived from a story that happened way back in the Spanish regime. There was a Spanish couple who loved going to the Lapulapu town center church in Opon to attend mass every Sunday. But the night before that, was a strong typhoon that hit the area which led to trees falling and blocking road passages. The day after, the couple was riding their kalesa on the way to attend mass at the Opon church, but a huge Jackfruit tree was blocking the road. The tree was so huge that it became impossible for the kalesa to pass, and it could take a whole if an ordinary man were to cut it. As the couple was asking for help, a citizen advised them to ask for help from the strongest man in the place – one Mariano Sumagang to cut the tree. Mariano simply lifted the jackfruit tree and placed it aside to unblock the road. To their amazement they exclaimed “grabeha ni Mariano, di man ma bangbang iyang kusog.” This story became such a legend, so that when a parokya was built in this place, they officially named the area as barangay “Bangbang” in honor of Mariano Sumagang who helped clear the roads after that typhoon.

The existing barangay hall finished construction around 2013 in purok Nangka (jackfruit). The previous barangay is now converted into a daycare facility. The logo of the barangay signifies the locals. Historically, people in Cordova lived through fishing even until today. According to statistics gathered by the barangay, over 60 percent today of the locals in barangay Bangbang are still doing fishing for their livelihood.

The structure is oriented towards the north east. The sun rises from the structure’s north east, and settles down on the building’s south west. At noon, the structure experiences heat at its south east which hits the session hall and office of the senior citizens. North east monsoon will be experienced on the structure’s north while southwest monsoon at its south.

The office of the PWD (persons with disability) is relocated to the exterior part of the structure to provide a more spacious and PWD friendly interior. By doing this, the we were able to provide a dedicated PWD comfort room as compared to its previous location.

The waiting area’s allocation remains as is, as it is convenient to the entry. A ceiling fixture is provided all along with sufficient lighting. The previous door for the office of the treasurer was also relocated to provide a bigger space in the waiting area which enables the receptionist to be placed in a more efficient arrangement. A mural of Mariano Sumagang carrying a fallen wood was also painted in the wall as part of the barangay’s history.

Glass panels in the interior of the hallways were redesigned with open air ventilation to enhance air circulation in the area. This design also enables all offices in the ground floor to be cooled together at once, thus helping to cut electricity cost.

The treasurer’s office’s layout is transferred closer to the right side to give way for its new entry. The logo of the barangay is made of gmelina and is placed at the back with illumination on top, surrounded by fluted gmelina panels to bring movement to the area. An existing improvised cabinet can also be seen at the back improvised to make it longer to accommodate more items.

As the existing SK (Sangguniang Kabataan) (Youth Council) Chairman’s office is still unfinished and only has a desk and a chair, we provided a guest chair together with a file cabinet for it to be functional and be able to accommodate visitors. A logo of the Sangguniang Kabataan “SK” is also placed at the back.

We also provided an isolated office for the senior citizens. The office remained located near the exit for safety purposes. This also makes it very convenient for the seniors to access the bathroom as it is just adjacent.

The office of the barangay captain is refurnished. All furniture were replaced and a customized larger desk is made. The desk features mangrove design as the area is abundant with mangroves. A new ceiling fixture is also placed to match

The theme of the interior – The ACU (air conditioning unit) is replaced with a non-wall mounted one as its previous location conflicts with the file cabinet. Fish decorations can also be seen in the file cabinet as fishing has been the main livelihood in the area historically until today. Over 60% of the population are still engaged in fishing.

The councilors’ office is also re-designed to fit three working tables. An ACU is also placed to cool the room. Given that this area is exposed to the east, we took advantage of it by coming up with a “biophilic approach” – connecting with nature.

The layout of the current session hall is changed to maximize space. The arrangement of furniture is also changed into a “u” shape and a ceiling with lighting fixture is added. Doors are also replaced with barn sliding doors to get rid of the space that the door consumes when opened.

Minor offices in the barangay hall are placed in the ground floor. The office of the PWD is
relocated to have a special more PWD-friendly space along with a PWD dedicated comfort room. The entry is then greeted with the reception area where visitors may wait for their appointment before being instructed to proceed to an office.

The treasurer’s offices is relocated near the SK chairman’s entry to provide bigger space for the waiting area and the office of the senior citizen is provided with an isolated room for privacy. Important offices like the councilor’s office, Barangay Captain’s office, and the session hall are then placed in the second floor for hierarchy and bigger space. Three spaces were placed adjacent to each other and a dedicated door to the session hall is placed in the barangay captain’s office. The councilor’s office is allocated in a room where it will be exposed to sunrise as a biophilic design was incorporated in this area.

The session hall consumes the biggest room in this new structure. [See image gallery at finefinish.cbu.asia]

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Build and sell and rentable spaces is one of the most lucrative businesses one could go to especially here in the country where business is always abuzz. Build and sell and rentable spaces are also both very low maintenance businesses – so if you’re an expat or an overseas worker seeking to relax the rest of your life – these are the businesses you can go into.

Housing is in high demand today and there is a continuous rise in the demand for ready to occupy homes. If the location is exceptional – not the usual mass subdivision – the property can demand a good price.

This kind of business just require a bit of a capital as you need to buy good land from a good location and since the location has to be a good one – overlooking the beach, or on the hills, peace and quiet, then this land will also demand a good price. After finding a good land to build on, your next capital expense is the construction of the house – you can hire a contractor or you can Do It Yourself (DIY) – depends if you have the time to do it. After all the work and effort you need to put into the construction over months, your return is also really good. Depending on the location of the lot, you can get as much as double the cost of your initial investment on the land and on the construction. So in the build and sell business, it is always preferred that your land be on some posh location of the city.

If you are not into the cyclic style of business of the build and sell, you can also just build a commercial structure and have it rented out as commercial spaces or even apartment spaces. The only difference between purely rentable commercial space and an apartment space is that your apartment space will require higher construction cost since you need to design it to be ready for occupancy, whereas a purely rentable commercial space can be just a bare space since most renting businesses prefer to design and furnish their space according to their own business colors.

In the rentable spaces business, your only maintenance and overhead is usually the leaking roofs over time and maybe the bathroom plumbing. For each rentable space, you do need to install ahead plumbing for the tenant to connect to. Another overhead expense in keeping the rentable space business is just the guy who will do the collecting of the monthly rent and the paying or collecting of the electric and water bills.

In the build and sell business, once you turn over a house to the customer, all the physical upkeep of the house is already on the customer after the 6-12 months usual warranty coverage period of the construction…

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Most people who hire contractors and not self manage their own projects know very well the advantages of having a contractor, but here are some more / further advantages why it is better to have a contractor than to self manage your projects, unless of course if you’re too tight on the budget that you’d rather risk it, than spend extra.

So there are reasons why contractors exist and thrive, and most company or corporate projects need a contractor and will not self manage their projects. Companies always hire contractors and not self manage because they want to focus on their business and not do some short term carpentry or masonry works. The contractor will also assure companies of workmanship warranties and quality claims – this is something that is hard to claim when you directly hire your own workers, you will have to extend the work of your own hired carpenters or masons when you feel a portion of their work needs to be redone. Those private very small time project owners sometimes like to think that they can save more if they self manage their projects, however at the end of the project, their own hired workers will require longer project duration and will not be able to give free labor for quality related warranty claims.

So we all know the main reason why some project owners like to self manage and directly hire workers, which is – the savings that they thought they would enjoy, but here are the reasons why you should get a contractor / project manager for your project:

• You will be shielded from the headache and stress that come with a construction project. Imagine 8 months to maybe even one and a half years of managing a project, doing logistics, sourcing supplies and managing people. You will be able to skip all that stress through a contractor, but of course sometimes you will have no choice if your budget cannot allow it. Contractors already have a well established chain of reliable suppliers that can deliver materials on time and workers that know how to keep a sense of urgency in their work behavior as they know to be expected by their contractor.
• You will not need to manage and hire people. Hiring people can be tricky if you don’t have a regular pool of workers. On top of a pool of workers, you also need to make sure that your workers will not abuse you by working slow so they can have a longer work period. Please take note it is common behavior of some carpenters and masons to work extremely slow and drag forever if they are hired direct by a customer / project owner. This is their usual behavior so they can have a longer work period especially when the location is close to their home. Construction workers who accept to be hired through a contractor also know what contractors expect and require of them – speed and accuracy. Also, the relationship created by the years of working relations between the contractor and the worker, will also result in good quality output by the workers. Good relations with workers will assure the contractor his workers are loyal to him- and this loyalty is expressed in the good work quality that they provide. By working efficiently, the workers know that the contractor will love keep them and hire them repeatedly for new incoming projects, so the workers will be assured of a steady income flow. Besides, the workers know that a project owner or customer can only hire them once – for that specific project, except rarely when the project owner has another project in the coming distant years. Contractors have higher rate of hiring workers since it is the business they are in and not some once in a lifetime construction project of say a dream home or some tower of babel you wish to build in your lifetime.
• Contractors have an already established reliable list of suppliers for specific material items. These suppliers also have special price arrangements with the contractor to make sure he always comes to them for future repeat business. These suppliers always provide the best quality since they want to have repeat business with the contractor for his other projects.
• Warranty claims – The contractor is bound to provide good quality work to stay afloat in the business and thus the contractor is sure to provide after work warranty. Whereas if one self hires his workers, then it will be difficult to get warranty claims since workers will never give repeat work for free even if they are the ones blamed for such poor quality work. The workers who are directly hired by the customer would rather not show up when there is a quality claim on warranty since he knows he will not be paid for repeat work, and will even blame the customer for being a perfectionist. The contractor will always pay the workers for repeat work or back job to make sure he can deliver on his warranty assurance to the customer.
• Tools and transport elements – Contractors already have tools and transport equipment thus the customer who wish to hire his own workers will sometimes have to buy special tools for special applications. Please note that carpenters and masons usually only have the common tools and they usually don’t buy special tools. Now if you have a project that require special tools, then you no longer need to buy them since your contractor usually has that special tool for such specific special applications. Some subdivisions also require a special transport for workers and they don’t allow workers to walk from the gate to the construction site – and the contractor is prepared for this since he usually always have a special transport vehicle for workers. Also, there are times like during Christmas season or Holy Week when it is very difficult or sometimes even impossible for the workers to go home to their province since the buses are always full, and they will require from the contractor to be transported to their provinces during these special holidays.