Photo © Studio Periphery
The NEX Tower is a faceted jewel along the stretch of Ayala Avenue between VA Rufino and HV de la Costa Streets in Makati, where the country’s once-premiere office buildings are now aging, not all too gracefully. Nova Group’s 29-story skyscraper designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with R. Villarosa as architect of record is a welcome development, not just for its unique, sliced-off facade, but also for its stunning front lobby and elegant back lobby, which hopefully will nudge NEX Tower’s neighbors to clean up, spruce up, and redefine the way they welcome people into their buildings. More importantly, at least for the tenants who house their offices here, they get to experience humanist design as good business sense.