Lexmark Circuit Assembly Facility

Lexmark International (Philippines) Inc., a subsidiary of the renowned computer printer manufacturer, decided to construct a plant to house its ink-jet cartridge assembly line on its 3.5 hectare property just at the fringes of Mactan International Airport. Known as the Circuit Assembly Facility, the new plant is located adjacent to Lexmark’s first plant, a Bottle Assembly plant. It has a gross floor area of 20,700 square meters distributed into three major structures; namely, a 2-storey Main Building, a 3-storey Utility Building with a roof deck, and a Chemical Storage Building.

The facade of the Main Building which houses the production areas, cafeteria and offices resembles that of the existing plant though scaled differently as its height and length is nearly twice the latter. Patterns of vertical and horizontal lines unify the design of both buildings. The Main Building was designed and built to meet the following special requirements of Lexmark:

Building exterior walls and roof to withstand 200 mph winds
Condition inside the Class 1000 clean rooms to be maintained at 68±0.5°F and 50±%RH.
Ceiling which is 100% clean room ULPA (Ultra low penetration air) filters to be walkable.
Solvent Transfer Room, a high risk area in one corner of the Main Building, to be of damage limiting construction in accordance witH FM Standard.

Air conditioning of the Main Building is provided by centralized chilled water system with four 500-TR aircooled screw chillers located at the roof deck of the Ultility Building. Power is supplied from two (2) 4000 kVA double ended substation with space for one more in the future. Four (4) 2000 kVA diesel gensets operated in parallel provide full back-up power in case of utility power failure.

RNFA provided Engineering and Architectural Design as well as Construction Management for the project including Procurement Management for high value equipment and materials which were owner-supplied.

The project took 18 months from planning to substantial completion. It was substantially completed after 15 months of construction.