Hardieflex biggest winner in 1st architects’ choice awards

Cement boards company James Hardie Philippines Inc. bagged the most number of awards given during the recently concluded BCI Asia Architects’ Choice Awards (ACA) at the Manila Marriott Hotel in Pasay City.

Popularly known for its Hardieflex brand, James Hardie Philippines won four out of the 24 categories in the first ACA held in the country, three of which were feature awards.

Hardieflex won in the design and innovation, performance, and customer service categories, while Boysen Paints Philippines was awarded for sustainability.

James Hardie sales consultant Inah Arellano said: “We are really aggressive in covering all the architectural firms, especially the top architects. Maybe [that’s why] they’re feeling our presence now.”

Fittings

Other brands were also recognized as outstanding in the following categories under mechanical and electrical fittings: Concepcion-Carrier Air Conditioning Co. for air conditioning; Panasonic Philippines for switches and sockets; Mitsubishi Motors Philippines for lifts, elevators and mechanical walkways; and Philips Electronics and Lighting Inc. for lightings.

For bathroom products, awards were given to Hocheng Philippines Corp. for sanitary ware and American Standard for faucets, taps and shower heads.

Under interior furnishing, winners were Mandaue Foam Philippines for office and commercial furniture; Boysen for decorative paint; and Hunter Douglas for blinds and curtains. For floor coverings, GT Stoneworks was recognized outstanding for the stone category; Mariwasa Siam Ceramics Inc. for tiles; and Euro Carpets and Interiors for carpets.

Boral Limited was awarded for gypsum and plasterboards while Hardieflex for cement boards. Both awards are under wall and ceiling lining.

Enclosure furnishing

For enclosure fitouts, Hafele Hardware Technology was named best for door hardwares; Apo Roofs (Puyat Steel Corp.) for metal roofing; Filipinas Asia Shutters Door Corp. for doors and windows (metal); Vignet for doors and windows (PVC); Matwood (Matimco Inc.) for doors and windows (wood); and Alucobest for aluminum composite panels.

The ACA winners were chosen by 480 architects from the Top 10 firms in the Philippines. Voting started in November 2013 and ended in February 2014.

“In this competitive construction market, knowing the reason for winning is the collective trust of architects is priceless,” BCI Asia Philippines country manager Dean Borg said. “The companies represented played a major role in the success of construction growth of the Philippines.”

BCI Asia’s ACA, which aims to recognize top brands in the construction industry, ran its first leg in Indonesia for Southeast Asia. The Philippines followed suit whereas it will hold the ACA biannually.