1) A-Place serves as the headquarters for ASYA Design, one of the largest and most successful architecture firms in the Philippines. 2) The office aims to create an enjoyable and productive work environment, with various amenities like a cafeteria, basketball court, and design competition prizes. 3) The office layout and policies are designed to protect client confidentiality, with different teams separated to exclusively serve different major developer clients.

1. WRITTEN BY MIGUEL R. LLONAFIRM&FUNCTION PHOTOGRAPHED BY ED SIMON OF STUDIO 100
AsyaDesign’sofficemay
justmakeyouwishyou
workthere
F O R A C H I E V E M E N T

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Left: A-Place is a 12-storey building
with two lower level parking floors,
although the floor numbers start at
10 and other numbers are skipped
because of feng shui. Apart from
being the headquarters of ASYA,
some of the floors of the building
are leased out as offices and green
showrooms. The building is pre-
certified LEED Gold. (Image from
ASYA Design)
Below: ASYA occupies the 16th,
17th, 18th, 20th and 21st floors of
A-Place. From the 19th floor lobby,
one can already see the abundance
of meeting rooms. These conference
rooms are equipped with touch-
screen smart TVs for people to
display their plans and diagrams
during design reviews.
It’s hard not to notice the
building with the giant,
white letter ‘a’ on its blue
façade as one approaches
the Mall of Asia complex via
EDSA. As if the façade doesn’t
make it obvious enough, the
building is called A-Place, and
serves as headquarters to one
of the most prolific
architecture firms in the
country, ASYA Design.
Albert Yu, Chairman
and CEO of ASYA, started
the firm in 1993, with
the burning mission of
pushing it to the forefront
of architecture and design
on a global scale. Twenty
years later, his firm has its
fingerprints all over the
country after being entrusted
by the top developers in the
country to erect a multitude
of condominium towers,
malls, offices and mixed-use
complexes. ASYA’s reach has
expanded to cities of China
like Shanghai, Xiamen and
Chengdu. Their architectural
output has consistently
earned them a BCI Asia Award
for eleven consecutive years,
and their growing number
of projects has caused their
number of employees to
balloon to 500, including
400 architects.
A-Place was constructed
by ASYA two years ago
not just to accommodate
their growing number of
employees, but also to serve
as testament to their success
as an architectural firm.

3. The main workstations are organized in rows. Managers get L-shaped desks, and a table in the middle of the area is provided for instant meetings. Contrary to
expectations, Yu’s desk is the same as any managers’. He says he doesn’t need a private office as he’s always on the go.
FIRM&FUNCTION
THE VISION WAS TO
CREATE an office
where employees have
opportunities to
grow professionally
and financially,
while maintaining
balance between
work and play.
BluPrint112

4. The vision was to create
an office where employees
have opportunities to grow
professionally and financially,
while maintaining balance
between work and play.
Accomplishing this with
several hundred employees
is no mean feat, but it
appears that ASYA’s A-Place
already has, at the very least,
the necessary facilities to
create an enviable working
environment.
Organization
Under Yu are several directors
that handle the different
departments of the firm: Design
(which has the largest number
of staff), Production and Site,
Graphic Design, Interior Design,
Engineering, Construction
Management, Project
Management, Finance, and
Administration and Operations.
These departments are headed
by senior managers.
Client protection
Since ASYA works with almost
every major local developer,
protecting each client’s
confidential information is a top
priority and has played a part
in dictating the office layout
and organizational structure,
with their two biggest clients
assigned to teams on different
floors. Technical employees
are grouped to handle just
one client exclusively so that
each team, especially the team
leaders, can be as hands-on
as necessary, and lavish as
much hand holding as the
clients they are assigned to
require. One group is assigned
to exclusively handle projects
by one developer, while others
take care of other developers,
and so on. Such an arrangement
helps build trust between the
client and the group, increasing
the likelihood of securing that
client again for another project.
The solution for protecting
the clients’ confidential
information is a literal and
figurative ‘Chinese wall’ to
separate the work areas of
different groups, thereby
limiting interaction between
them during work hours.
Further enforcing this is the
office’s “No Internet” and “No
Cellphones” policy for its staff,
so that the possibility of plans
and designs being accidentally
sent to other parties will be
prevented. Only team leaders
and managers have access
to the Internet, and the rest
can only go online on select
computer stations called
touchdown areas.
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Above: One of the spaces in the
office that Yu is proud of is the
500-sqm Mood Room, a library of
materials swatches. The materials are
organized according to type, such as
wall coverings, flooring, laminates,
door handles, etc.
Right: Along the wall of the staircase
connecting the 18th and 19th floors
are hard hats with logos of suppliers
that ASYA has worked with.

5. FIRM&FUNCTION
developers, suppliers, partners
and the office employees. “We
want to be an office where
people wish they work here,”
says Yu.
Competitions aren’t
limited to sports, as design
competitions are held within
the company with the senior
officers acting as the judges.
These internal contests, they
say, not only stimulate the
creativity of the employees,
but also help the seniors find
young, talented designers they
could train for higher positions.
Training sessions are offered
to employees as well, with
internal training strategies
for Revit, AutoCAD and
animation education programs
every Saturday.
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Fun and games
While prohibiting Internet
and cellphone use during
office hours could dampen
the mood of the employees,
the office makes up for it by
going to lengths to be a fun
and interactive environment.
A basketball court—which can
be converted for badminton
play—offers employees
the chance to unwind after
work by shooting some
hoops, and 3-on-3 basketball
tournaments are often held
between departments. ASYA
even organizes an annual
badminton tournament where
Olympic medalists like Lee
Chong Wei of Malaysia, Nina
Vislova and Valeria Sorokina of
Russia are invited to play with
Top and Middle: On the 18th
floor are rows of “solution boxes,”
door-less rooms where people can
do design reviews or brainstorm for
ideas. Each room has cork boards and
white boards where sketches and
notes can be put up, and windows
opening up to views of the Mall of
Asia complex and Manila Bay beyond.
The rooms don’t have doors, but have
blinds that can be rolled down for the
privacy of its users.
Right: A model-making room can be
found on the 18th floor. ASYA doesn’t
have a 3D printer in the office for their
scale models, as they still prefer them
hand-made. Models that are hand-
made could take up to two weeks to
finish depending on the size of the
project, but they can easily be modified
if there are changes to the design.
While prohibiting Internet
and cellphone use during
office hours could dampen
the mood of the employees,
the office makes up for
it by going to lengths to
be a fun and interactive
environment.

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Above: One whole floor of the
building serves as a cafeteria for staff.
Set meals subsidized by the company
are served at only P50. The area is
well lit during the day, and has a ping
pong and billiards table that people
can use during breaks.
Left: To help foster workplace
camaraderie, a basketball court was
set up in the 20th floor. The staff
usually plays 3-on-3 games after
work hours, with the senior officers
joining as well. Prospective clients
are also invited to bring basketball
clothes when they come to the
office so they can talk business while
shooting some hoops, which makes
for relaxed meetings. The court can
also be used for badminton.

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Top: The lobby just outside the executive
board room serves as a trophy room
where the Yu’s numerous awards are
displayed, which include the 2001
Most Outstanding Professional of
the Year in the Field of Architecture
(awarded by PRC), a Presidential Award
of Excellence, the 2007 JCI Creative
Young Entrepreneurs Award, and the
International Star for Leadership and
Quality for Business Initiative Directions
(2011). Two sides of the executive
boardroom are covered in glass, opening
up views of the surrounding MOA
complex. “Almost all the buildings outside
that you see from this room are built by
us,” says Yu proudly.
Left: Yu and other executives have lunch
in a private dining area, where their meals
are prepared by a chef. Important clients
are also brought here.
“If you’re one of the best, we want you to stay in
Manila and be part of ASYA,” says Yu.
FIRM&FUNCTION

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the next challenge, according
to Yu, is to expand globally
to help put the Philippines on
the architectural map. The
firm already has projects
in China, but the ultimate
goal is to establish offices in
other countries with foreign
architects in their employ. The
firm plans to make this move
in the near future.
Having secured a large
measure of security and
success for his firm, Yu says
they are now paying it forward,
trying to help the Philippine
economy by creating job
opportunities. One main
goal is to lure internationally
competitive Filipino architects
working abroad to come back
home. “If you’re one of the best,
we want you to stay in Manila
and be part of ASYA,” says Yu.
Yu does his part to foster this
fun and interactive learning
environment—when he’s not
out on client meetings, he is
a ubiquitous presence in the
office, popping up from area
to area to consult and meet
with his staff, or even join
them in some of the office’s
fun activities after hours,
like a game of basketball or
badminton. This allows him to
forge strong relationships with
the people working for him.
Expansion
ASYA is aware of the
challenges that ASEAN
integration will bring, but a
company as big and prolific
as ASYA already has other
priorities beyond securing
more projects locally. Having
conquered the local market,
Top: The lower floors are leased out to tenants, with one floor occupied by showrooms of eco-friendly products. This is convenient for the firm because it allows them to
bring visiting clients to these showrooms to see materials ASYA recommends for their projects. Middle: To save space on the parking levels, carousel parking is made
available for employees’ cars. Bottom: SHARE is a section of the office composed primarily of conference rooms and smaller meeting rooms that can be used by ASYA
employees and tenants of the building. The ASYA office handles the booking of the rooms. ASYA employees can use the conference rooms for free, while tenants are
charged by the hour. “We call this conference pooling, to help save everyone’s carbon footprint,” says Yu.