23/02/2026
𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐍𝐮𝐫𝐮𝐥 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞
In 1981, DM Consunji Inc. (DMCI) took on the construction of the Istana Nurul Iman in Brunei, the world’s largest residential palace, with completion targeted for the country’s Independence Day on February 23, 1984.
DMCI Founder Engr. David M. Consunji recounted in his memoir “A Passion to Build” that the opportunity to build the residence of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah came through Enrique Zobel, then CEO of Ayala Corporation and a personal friend of the sultan.
"The ruler of Brunei was Enrique's polo student and very good friend. The sultan asked Enrique if he could build him a palace. Sultan Bolkiah knew that Enrique had some experience in supervising construction because Ayala Corporation was in the real estate and property development business. So Enrique acted as the project manager of the sultan in the New Istana project," Engr. Consunji wrote.
Zobel commissioned architect Leandro V. Locsin — who would later be named National Artist for Architecture — to design the palace. The project was then bid out in two phases: the construction of the structural frame and the finishing works. DMCI won both bids.
Engr. Consunji said it was the largest overseas project DMCI had ever undertaken but he was not intimidated. “When I first saw the plans and the work involved, I was confident that we could do it. It did not intimidate me at all. I did not see any aspect of the plan that would give us technical difficulties.”
Describing the scale of the project, Engr. Consunji wrote: "The New Istana is a multi-level reinforced concrete structure with a total floor area of 210,000 square meters. The palace complex was built on a 30-hectare site. It was made up of the three-level main building, the four-level royal suites, the two-level throne hall, the two-level banquet area, the three-level surao, the utility building, the sports complex, and the marina. The palace itself was about 900 meters long and about 40 meters wide. We must have poured more than 100,000 cubic meters of concrete. Materials for the palace came from all over the world: lumber from the Philippines, marble from Italy, and other materials from France and Singapore. There was a lot of marble work in different colors."
Construction was closely watched by the public.
Engr. Consunji recalled: "The talk of the town in Brunei then was whether the palace would be finished in time for Independence Day. Once I went to a barber shop and the barber himself asked me: ‘Mr. Consunji, would the palace be ready by Independence Day?’ I reassured him that it would be ready.”
After two years and nine months, DMCI completed the palace on schedule and on budget, at a cost of $350 million, in time for Brunei’s Independence Day.
"In February of 1984, on the occasion of their Independence Day, the people of Brunei finally saw what they had all been waiting for with bated breath. For us in DMCI, the completion of the New Istana was a nice way of capping the company's first thirty years of existence," Engr. Consunji said.
Source: A Passion to Build: A Memoir of David M. Consunji
Photo lifted from Creating Sustainable Magic: The DMCI Group Story
