Industry players converge

MANILA, Philippines - Cirdia, a Filipino multinational firm that provides end-to-end services and solutions to the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry, in partnership with the Design Process Council of the Philippines, recently mounted a day-long industry forum dubbed “Building From the Ground Up” at the Ayala Museum, Makati City. As one of the significant players in the AEC industry that aims to collaborate with other stakeholders and industry players, Cirdia, through its CSR arm Cirdia Foundation, gathered international experts and local industry players to discuss the latest trends and issues affecting the development and growth of the Philippine AEC industry.

Cirdia chairman Antony Zubiri, along with Cirdia Foundation president Catherine Ileto, and Dean John Fernandez of the Council of Deans and Heads of Architectural Schools of the Philippines (CODHASP), led the ribbon cutting ceremony to officially signal the start of the event. 

Edge Zarrella, Senior Analyst from KPMG, an international audit, research and consultancy firm, provided a global outlook for the AEC industry and what the Philippines must do in order to become a major player in the global AEC arena. In a separate session called “Technology: An AEC Growth Enabler,” Emmanuel Samuel, Autodesk’s Director for Asia Pacific, introduced Building Information Modeling or BIM, a leading AEC software that architectural firms can utilize to gain competitive advantage both in the local and global market.