The National University and the SM Group of Companies recently held the topping-off ceremony of its new eight-story academic building. The building, which started its construction in October 2008, is targeted for completion in June 2009, just in time for the first semester of school year 2009-10.
SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy, NU CEO and president Teodoro Ocampo and NU CEO Renato Carlos Ermita led the topping off rites with New Golden City Builders general contractor Engr. Manny Sy, architect Ana Siao Ling of Jose Siao Ling & Associates, DA Abcede Construction manager Engr. Dennis Abcede, NU board director Robert Paguia and NU Campus management director Nilo Ocampo.
The SM Group recently acquired the majority ownership of NU, and its all-out support will help strengthen the university as an institution with new infrastructure, equipment and focus on academic excellence.
[Working hand in hand for education SM Group of Companies and the National University recently held a topping off ceremony of NU’s new building. SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy and National University CEO and president Teodoro Ocampo led the ceremony. With them were (from left) NU chief operating officer Renato Carlos Ermita, New Golden City Builders general contractor Engr. Manny Sy, NU board director Robert Paguia, Jose Siao Ling & Associates architect Ana Ling, D.A. Abcede & Associates construction manager Engr. Dennis Abcede (second from right) and NU campus management director Nilo Ocampo.]
The new building, which has a neoclassical design and a total area of 13,700 square meters, will house the College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, Information Technology and Nursing, in addition to the courses offered by the university. It features 48 fully air-conditioned classrooms (16 in each floor), kitchen laboratories, modern nursing skills lab/minihospital, computer rooms and other related laboratories, plus student facilities like a cafeteria, a multipurpose student area and Wi-Fi zones.
The ground floor will lead to the two units of escalator (it’s the only school in the country that has escalators) and four units of elevators. The second floor will be the grand reception area, where the monument of the founder, Don Mariano Fortunato Jhocson, will be displayed.
Classrooms will be on the third floor, while the school’s administrative offices and computer laboratories will be housed on the fourth floor; and more classrooms will be located on the fifth and sixth floors.
The seventh floor will have a chemical and physics lab, and an HRM bar-and-restaurant area where students can practice in actual hotel rooms—single bed, twin sharing and suites. There will also be two audiovisual rooms and a minihospital for students in this area.
The eighth floor is where the NBA-sized basketball court, a volleyball court, two badminton courts, as well as a 140-meter jogging oval on its upper side, will be located.
The new building’s construction team includes Jose Siao Ling and Associates, architects; New Golden City Builders, general contractors; and DA Abcede and Associates, project managers.
National University was founded on August 1, 1900, by Don Mariano Fortunato Jhocson as Colegio Filipino. It was the first private, nonsectarian school in the country. Five years later, in response to the growing need for business subjects, Commerce and Accounting courses were added, bringing a change in the name of the school to Colegio Mercantil.
Intensely nationalistic and conscious of the country’s need to train more leaders toward self-government, Don Mariano Fortunato Jhocson in collaboration with the Lacson brothers, established the Philippine Law School in 1915. This later became the College of Law.
On January 17, 1921, the Department of Public Instruction approved the change from National Academy to National University with the Camilo Osias as its first president.
National University is at 551 MF Jhocson Street, Sampaloc, Manila, and is now accepting applicants for school year 2009-10.