Philippine National Bank Building (Escolta)

The PNB Building was constructed from 1962 to 1965[1] and was inaugurated in 1966[2] by its namesake and tenant, the then-state owned Philippine National Bank (PNB). PNB occupied the building until 1996 when the banking firm was privatized.[1] The PNB moved office to Pasay. The PNB was the main government finance body prior to the establishment of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Philippines' central bank.[3] It then housed the City College of Manila before it was abandoned.[1]

In January 2015, the building sustained damages from a fire[4] which lead to the owner of the building, the Manila City Government to demolish the building.[5]

The architect of the PNB Bank is Carlos Arguelles with David Consunji as the building's contractor. The architectural style of the building is considered to be that of the International Style which is described to have complemented the climate and context of its immediate vicinity, the Escolta area, according to architect Dominic Galicia, president of the Philippine office of the International Council on Monuments and Sites.[1] The building is 12-storeys high.[4]

Following the 2015 fire, the Manila City Government under the administration of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada decided to demolish the building after it deemed the building structurally unsound. The building's demolition was earlier proposed in 2010 under Estrada's predecessor Alfredo Lim after Romy Lorenzo of Geltd Developers and Managers Group Inc., a developer claimed that the PNB Building is at a risk of collapse should an earthquake strike the city.[4] The demolition was condemned by heritage conservationists, since the PNB Building is presumed to be an Important Cultural Property under the National Cultural Heritage Act and has suggested to retrofit the building instead.[5]