Interesting Facts about Philippine Arena

Interesting Facts about Philippine Arena

If you still don’t know what the Philippine Arena is, then all I could say is that you’re away from the TV and the Internet for the last three years. The Philippine Arena is the largest indoor arena in the world, boasting a 55,000 person capacity. There are a lot of buzzes buzzing around during its creation and the particular reason for that is because of the organization who funded the construction – the Iglesia Ni Cristo. Now here are some interesting facts about the newly created Philippine Arena that might answer some of your questions.  

1.) It’s Quakeproof

If you’ve watched the arena’s coverage on Discovery, you would know why it’s designed like what it looks like now. The roof design looks like that because it’s designed to withstand an earthquake up to magnitude 8. The roof is also uniquely designed like a plane’s wing designed to let strong winds to just flow through. This makes it stormproof as well.
The design is also inspired by the Narra and the Banyan tree.
 

2.) Ready for Anything

With regards to serious disasters like earthquakes, the arena is sure to have enough exits for people to go out quickly in under 4 to 6 minutes. This is pretty important as not having enough exit space would pose more problem and would leave the crowd prone to stampedes when the time comes.
 

3.) Times the Size

Ever been to Mall of Asia Arena? If that looks big to you then try imagining a view three times bigger than it – that’s the Philippine Arena right there. Well, if you’re going to fit that much people, then you’ll really need it to be that big too.

4.) Construction Costs

Image Source: www.skyscrapercity.com
The Philippine Arena needed more than 213 million US dollars or 9 billion pesos to complete. And not a cent of government money was spent on this. The money that the INC paid for it wholly came from its members who voluntarily offered them on worship services. This money is also used mainly on the construction of other houses of worship as well.

5.) Fast Building

For a scale of this size, the Philippine Arena was finished in only 30 months. It was fast and it needed to be so because the INC needs to celebrate their centennial year and they need the arena for it. It was built with a workforce of about 30,000 people.

6.) More Buildings

The arena is just one of the many buildings that will be built on Ciudad de Victoria. The Eraño Medical Center, the Bulacan Campus of New Era University, the Philippine Stadium and Philippine Sports Center are to  be built right next to it in the coming future. Oh, and if you didn’t know already, Ciudad de Victoria is a 140 hectare piece of land owned by the INC as well.

7.) Opening

The arena’s opening ceremony was held on July 21, 2014. It was attended by a lot of people, politicians included, the most notable being President Benigno Aquino III himself who even made a speech. It was also attended by the INC members of course. In fact, during the ceremony, the whole place was filled to the brim.

8.) The People Behind It

As I said before, the arena was built with a workforce of more than 30,000 people. The construction was supervised by Hanwha Engineering and Construction Corp while while the design was made by a company from Australia, Populous. Buro Happold from London was in charge of structural engineering.

9.) The Dimensions

If imagining the size isn’t enough, then here are some solid numbers to make it more realistic. The arena is 243 meters long, 193 meters wide and 62 meters high. The lot area of the arena is 74,000 square meters while its total floor area is about 99,000 square meters. Now can you imagine it much better?
If you still can’t then maybe you’ll just have to see it with your own eyes. The arena is open for everyone so feel free to do so.
Source:
http://www.interaksyon.com/lifestyle/10-quick-facts-about-the-philippine-arena
http://www.philstar.com/news-feature/2014/07/21/1348707/facts-philippine-arena-numbers
http://www.rappler.com/business/industries/175-real-estate/63861-fast-facts-iglesia-ni-cristo-philippine-arena
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Arena
http://www.filipiknow.net/interesting-facts-about-philippine-arena/
http://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/arts-and-culture/64377-iglesia-ni-cristo-pipe-organ