Creating communities around places

DESIGNED by Andres Luna in 1928, the Perez-Samanillo Building, aka First United Building (FUB), is a celebrated heritage Art Deco structure in Escolta. This June, it received the Malasakit Award, the coveted top prize for the Good Design Award (GDA) Philippines. When asked what winning meant for her, 68-year-old Vice President Lorraine Sylianteng almost cried because she recalled the hardships she and her husband, Roberto, had to go through. The couple had turned down offers from a bank and a big delivery service to buy their property because they «believed in doing something different in Escolta.»

Entering the awards involved strengthening the organization itself. Robby Sylianteng, the couple's son and the company's manager for business development, had to forgo making a scale model because funds were needed to repair the building elevators. Holding a minor in Architecture and Urban Design from the New York-based Parsons School of Design, he believes that good design means trailblazing and requires empathy. Around May, he underwent surgery and presented before jurors in his hospital gown. «We knew we had to argue for our own truth,» he says.

A performance venue A co-working space Spaces and stores for entrepreneurs and artists The First United Building today. CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS The First United Building in the early part of the 20th century

After losing their real estate exemption for the last two years, the Syliantengs felt vindicated by the GDA.

The company's 73-year-old president and Robby's father, Roberto, discloses that the redesign was initially a response to a problem. Typical of many private heritage property owners, he thought that maintaining an old building was a terrible headache. As Escolta became less fashionable and increasingly abandoned, the company experienced faster turnovers, reaching a point when no one was leasing from them.

However, encouraged by heritage advocates to forge on, the Syliantengs decided to open up to a different set of clientele. If they wanted the building to come alive at night, they had to look for people who woke up after lunch and stayed up until the wee hours of the morning: artists and creatives.

The property now has