SAMUEL A. BUDIONO & ASSOCIATES
ARCHITECT/PLANNER/INTERIOR DESIGNER
MANADO POST
MANADO POST
“the edge of a pen”
The site is a complex one and enjoys a privileged beautiful sea view and mountain background. Sitting on the hilly site of Manado, the shape of the building is a direct consequence to maximize the view overlooking the sensational panorama.
The Manado Post functions are organized over five floors while a semi basement floor serves as parking and also printing room. On the street level, there is the main entrance with an oversize stairs with stepping lawn on both sides creating a podium image to an open foyer. The peculiarity of the triangular corner is emphasized by a highly reflective glass giving a rich mirror image of the greenery. The building’s sharp edges symbolize the edge of a pen as the newspaper’s company trade mark.
To accommodate the client philosophy, the strategy is to offer additional value by creating distinctive yet functional architecture. The brief was to design a high quality office building, with an internal layout and specification that conforms to commercial market standards.
The building is covered with tilted grid glass facade accentuated by aluminum louvers. They are seemingly randomly arranged around the building give a dynamic appearance while its transparency allows it to enjoy beautiful view surrounding.
The glass facade is in fact one of the most characteristic features, running unbroken around three side of the whole building so as to provide total illumination inside at any time of day - and stunning visual impact. In the evening it remains alive, shining by the artificial light inside and looking like a huge lantern on the hill. This intensely expressive architectural statement gives a trade mark of this building.
The arrangement between glass and louvers reflects the fact that it is from the street itself that the newspaper metaphorically gathers its inspiration from architectural expression using the dynamic facade as the symbol of the unfolded newspaper pages.
