St. Francis Square

St. Francis Square is a commercial complex in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong, Philippines. Groundbreaking and construction began in 1998 and was completed in 2000. Due to some controversies regarding the St. Francis Square Group of Companies, construction and the finishing of interiors were halted. Construction resumed in 2009 and the building was finished in 2011.

This article is about the commercial complex in the Philippines. For the nearby residential towers, see The St. Francis Shangri-La Place. For the Square in Slovakia, see St. Francis Square (Bratislava).

St. Francis Square
Logo for BSA Twin Towers
Twin towers soaring high
The BSA Twin Towers
General information
StatusCompleted
LocationOrtigas Center, Metro Manila, Philippines
Coordinates14°35′9.76″N 121°3′29.66″E
Construction started1998
Completed2000
Cost₱550,000,000[1]
ManagementCE Construction
Height
Antenna spire221 m (725 ft)[2][3]
Roof197.0 m (646.3 ft)
Top floor196.80 m (645.7 ft)
Technical details
Floor countBSA Twin Towers: 55 floors
St. Francis Square Mall: 4 floors
Floor area78,600.93 m2 (846,053.4 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators10[4]
Design and construction
Architect(s)R. Villarosa Architects
DeveloperSt. Francis Square Group of Companies
Structural engineerD.M. Consunji, Inc.[5]
Main contractorD.M. Consunji, Inc.[5]

Complex

BSA Twin Towers

The complex has three buildings, but the main two towers are the most notable. Each stands 221 metres (725 ft) high, occupying a land area of 3,037.32 square metres (32,693 sq ft) of the site's land.[4] Topped off since 2000, yet completed in 2011, the two towers became the fourth-tallest buildings in the country. The two towers supposedly have a rooftop observation deck or a sky garden on their pyramid roofs. They also serve as a radio transmitter and secondary studio facilities[6] of the FM radio stations 90.7 Love Radio, 101.1 Yes The Best and 96.3 Easy Rock, as well as temporary studios of AM radio station DZRH and community-formatted national FM station Radyo Natin, all owned by Manila Broadcasting Company. At night, there is an neon light display at the top of the buildings, with logos of the St Francis Group of Companies, AUX Aircon, and HKTV (HongKong TV) seen on the roofs, giving an iconic look to the Ortigas skyline.

St. Francis Square Mall

The St. Francis Square Mall is a four-storey building within the St. Francis Square complex. It is popularly known in the Metropolitan Manila for its advertisement jingle for the Super Tiangge shopping area which is located in this mall.[7] The mall and the Twin Towers are separated by a massive parking lot that caters to the customers of the mall and nearby establishments.

In June 2019, the Super Tiangge area, the second and third levels of the mall, was vacated and closed for conversion as commercial and office space.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Project Financing". St. Francis Square Group of Companies. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  2. "BSA Twin Tower 1". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  3. "BSA Twin Tower 2". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  4. "BSA Twin Towers". Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  5. "BSA Twin Tower". D.M. Consunji, Inc. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
  6. "MBC uses back-up facilities to 'minimize interruption' after Star City fire". ABS-CBN News. October 3, 2019. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  7. "St. Francis Square". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021.
  8. "St. Francis Square Mall closes down tiangge area". ABS-CBN News. June 1, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
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