This project reimagines the historic Compañia Maritima Building, one of Cebu’s earliest reinforced concrete structures, as a civic boat-breaking yard and public gathering ground. Positioned along the city’s waterfront, the proposal transforms an abandoned industrial relic into a productive and social landscape where decommissioned boats are dismantled and redistributed. The design brings together labour, material salvage and community life, creating a new typology that interrogates the boundaries between industrial and civic space.

At its core, the project is about gathering through breaking – of building and boat. The introduced splits through the existing building envelope creates spaces for a gantry spine that connects the sea to the onsite and adjacent markets, with public viewing platforms looping through the elevations of the site, revealing the traces of Compania Maritima and the process of material dismantling. By exploring the existing fabric of the building, the interventions starts at the details, engaging a new reading for its habitation opportunities, introducing new loose-steel framing elements. The project proposes a renewed civic identity for the site, grounded in Cebu’s maritime heritage.