Buildings at Camella Northpoint residential condominium development here of Camella Communities, a unit of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., should be able to withstand earthquakes of up to magnitude 8 on the Richter scale, said a structural engineer who visited the city to check on the company’s projects here.
Ronaldo S. Ison, principal structural engineer of R. S. Ison and Associates, said in a recent interview that buildings at Camella Northpoint have been designed to resist such strong earthquakes and storm winds of up to 200 kilometers per hour. Mr. Ison’s company is a structural consultant for Camella projects.
Camella Northpoint is the city’s first five-tower condominium complex, with the tallest of the structures with 15 storeys and the four others with five storeys each. The project, currently completing 15-storey Building 4, is located along an elevated section of J. P. Laurel Ave. about three kilometers from the center of the city.
“We all know that the Philippines is earthquake prone, so our buildings were designed for about more than magnitude 7.8 based on the structural code,” Mr. Ison said.
In terms of materials used, the structural engineer assured all the buildings of Camella Northpoint use high strength concrete. “We do tests every time we pour concrete and all our tests show our materials have passed the standards,” he said.
Vista Land has four projects in Davao, with Camella Northpoint being the only residential condominium project of the company in the city.
The three others, which are horizontal residential subdivisions, are: Camella Davao, Camella Cerritos Davao, and Toscana. Shares of Vista Land gained seven centavos or 1.38% to close P5.16 apiece yesterday from P5.09 each on Tuesday.
Source: Business World by Maya M. Padillo
