Alfred Aydelott’s design for the U.S. Embassy Office Building Chancery in Manila took inspiration from the picturesque Intramuros, the walls built in sixteenth century when Manila was under Spanish rule. The one-story base of the building was of the same native volcanic stone, used in the same rugged fashion of the old walls. This one-story quadrangle with two interior courts housed U.S. Information Services, Veterans Administration, Consulate General Office, Citizenship Services and a Motion Pictures facility for cultural film screenings. From this one-story quadrangle rose a five-story block containing general offices and a penthouse cafeteria. The structure of the five-story block was reinforced concrete, wrapped on all sides by a floor-to-ceiling glazed wall with aluminum frames, both fixed and sliding panels, set back from the slab line. The glass facades were screened with precast concrete grilles to shield the building from the sub-tropical heat and glare. The grilles were inspired by laced bamboo screens or blinds that were characteristic of the local huts. The rising of the five-story modern structure from the one-story rugged “old wall” was metaphorically described as “the modern rise of the young Republic” referring to the Philippines.