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Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.is pleased to announce that our vibration control dampers have been adopted to protect the original China Bank Binondo Business Center, a historic building that was constructed in central Manila in 1924 and once served as the bank’s headquarters. This marks the first time that our vibration control dampers have been adopted in the Philippines.

As an archipelago surrounded by several active tectonic plates, the Philippines sits in a region that is prone to frequent seismic activity in the form of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, making the country particularly vulnerable to damaging earthquakes. (In fact, the Philippines was struck by major earthquakes twice in recent memory: the Mindanao Earthquake of 1976 and the Luzon Earthquake of 1990.) Since the implementation of stricter building standards in 2001, the government has been urging schools, hospitals and other public facilities to renovate older structures with earthquake proofing, which ultimately led to the decision to renovate the China Bank Binondo Business Center with our vibration control dampers.

China Bank Binondo BusinessCenter Undergoing Renovations	Vibration Control Damper FeaturingGRAST Technology (Unit: mm)

■About GRAST Ultra-High Damping Technology
Widely adopted to protect buildings, bridges and other structures, GRAST Technology takes advantage of the ability of high damping rubber to instantaneously convert vibrational energy into heat energy in order to effectively absorb and control the various types of vibration that structures are exposed to—from gentle swaying with the wind to the violent shaking of a major earthquake. 

■About China Bank Binondo Business Center
The China Bank Binondo Business Center is an iconic, 96-year-old building that rises seven stories above Manila’s Binondo District, which is widely considered to be the world’s oldest Chinatown with a history stretching back to 1594. The former headquarters of China Bank is one of many historic buildings in the area, which is now undergoing efforts to restore older buildings that could not be restored after World War II as part of the “Binondo Heritage Restoration Project.” Part of this project includes renovating these older buildings to conform with current safety standards.