The St. Francis Shangri-La Place – also known as The St. Francis Towers 1 &2 – is a twin-tower residential complex located in Mandaluyong, a city found east of Manila in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.

How tall is St. Francis Shangri-La Place?

The St. Francis Towers are among the tallest buildings in the Philippines.

The top spot is an antenna spire at 698.4 ft (212.88 m).

When the towers were completed in 2009, they broke the record for tallest twin-towers in the Philippines, taking the crown from Pacific Plaza Towers (which were built in 1997-2001).

Technical details

There are 60 floors aboveground and 5 floors belowground (for parking).

The towers have a total of 7 elevators.

A podium connects the two towers.

Location

Address: Shaw Boulevard cor. St. Francis St., Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong, Philippines

Coordinates: 14°34′48.45″N 121°3′22.89″E

Construction

Construction started in January 2005 and was completed in 2009.

Short facts about the St. Francis Shangri-La Place

Owner: Kuok Group

Developer: Shang Properties, Inc.

Architect: Wong Tung International Ltd, in cooperation with the local architectural firm Recio + Casas Architects

Structural engineering: Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd.

Structural engineering review: Magnusson Klemencic Associates

Mechanical, electrical and sanitary engineering: WSP Hong Kong Ltd.

Interior design: Brennan Beer Gorman Monk Architects (Interior Design)

Main contractor: EEI Corporation

Project / Construction Management: Jose Aliling & Associates

Quantity surveying: Davis Langdon & Seah Philippines Inc.

Resilience

The Philippines are located in a part of the world noted for its high degree of seismic activity, and the St. Francis Shangri-La Place was built close to an active fault. Also, the area is sometimes hit by devastating typhoon winds.

To provide a higher level of security, the St. Francis Shangri-La Place was fitted with a trailblazing anti-wobbling system created by the international engineering firm Ove Arup & Partners. This system minimizes the standard wobble in high-rise constructions, and St. Francis Shangri-La is considered one of the safest high-rises in the Philippines. (Trivia: The same technology was used to strengthen the Millennium Bridge in London, England.)

The anti-wobbling system at St. Francis Shangri-La Place rely on viscous dampers that were inserted into the building where they act as energy absorbers and damp out vibrations. These dampers connect deep reinforced concrete outriggers from the central core of each tower to the perimeter columns at one level.

About Wong Tung

The architects for the St. Francis Shangri-La Place were Wong Tung, in cooperation with the local architectural firm Recio + Casas Architects.

Wong Tung is an architecture, planning and design firm founded in Hong Kong in 1963. Today, it has offices not just in Hong Kong but also in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Shenzhen. Roughly 250 architectural professionals and personnel work for Wong Tung in Hong Kong, and over 150 staff in mainland China.

Examples of Wong Tung projects:

MGM Macau, Macau

The China World Trade Center, Beijing, China

Dragon Centre, Hong Kong, China

Victoria Skye, Kai Tak, Hong Kong

One Central Macau, Macau