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Introduction

Historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of

political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural

heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have

been recognized with the official national historic site status. A historic site may be

any building, landscape, site or structure that is of local, regional, or national

significance.

Emerald Building and Tojong Hospital are some of the historic buildings in

Colon street that still exist today. This specific structures deserves to be preserve for

its architectural and historical value. By using the adaptive reuse process we propose

to develop the Emerald Building into a modern apartment, and the Tojong Hospital

into a clinic. This process is an alternative way to develop an old structure to be more

functional and economical while being very effective and efficient in trying to

sustainably develop the buildings.

Innovation in architecture is with no doubt extremely important, but

preserving and restoring the old buildings is also important because those old

structures are the reflection of our history, they help us to understand and respect

people who lived in different eras with different habits and traditions.
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There are a lot of historical buildings in Cebu city and some of them can be

found in the oldest street in the Philippines the Colon st. Emerald Building and

Tojong Hospital are just some of the historic buildings that still exist in colon st. The

Emerald Building or Happy Emporium is now an abandoned commercial building.

The Tojong Hospital was founded in 1950’s by the multifaceted doctor-cum-politician

and movie producer Dr. Leonardo A. Tojong whose facility served as a maternity and

general hospital.These old structures are now both abandoned and shut down,

However, today, the architecture of Tojong Hospital begs for more than just a passing

glance. Even in its state of decrepitude, its painted two-storey edifice with cast

concrete statuary crowning the facade, Tojong Hospital remains quite beautiful.

Adaptive reuse of buildings can be an attractive alternative to new

construction in terms of sustainability and economy. The practice of conservation and

preservation in the Philippines is still in its infancy, and local government offices are

not cooperative with cultural agencies with regards to conservation,” explains

architect Jason Portem, vice head of the national committee on Monuments and Sites

and architectural heritage conservationist. Though a multitude of our cultural gems

have been buried, travel and social media have been instrumental in increasing

awareness and value of our built heritage.