The Green Building
Bellville, Cape Town
The project brief requests a new administrative office facility for the Western Cape Department of Public Works with a 5 greenstar rating. The building comprises of open plan office space for approximately 320 staff members on the upper levels and shared facilities like boardrooms, lecture spaces, library, conference facility and a 100 seat auditorium grouped around an atrium and a courtyard on ground floor.
The structure is to consist predominantly of red clay brick referencing the existing buildings of the hospital complex. The facebrick skin is peeled away in places to allow natural light to penetrate deep into the open plan office spaces.
In addition to standard passive design principles like orientation, water harvesting, external shading and natural daylighting, the following unique strategies are to be employed in order to achieve the desired 5 greenstar rating:
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An organic black water recycling system.
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A combination of natural and mechanical air conditioning system to control interior thermal comfort levels.
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An automated lighting system (DALI) which senses and controls interior light levels in real time, based on natural daylight conditions.
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Functional landscape elements like permeable parking paving and an attenuation pond with a reed bed to filter stormwater before it is re-introduced to the municipal system
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No. 5 Silo
V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
Joint venture: Jacobs Parker Architects & Van der Merwe Miszewski Architects.
No 5 Silo is one of a group of buildings which surround the historic Grain Silo in the V&A Waterfront’s Grain Silo precinct. The building continues the idea of "background buildings” in the precinct, allowing the re-purposed Grain Silo to be the focal point of the district
The building footprint takes the form of an infill “wedge” between 2 adjacent future buildings, and consists of 14 880 square meters of commercial, retail and service space. The floor plate is bisected by a semi open air “street”, which separates the floor plate into a “North” and “South” wing. This configuration permits tenancy flexibility and creates an activated, pedestrian-oriented central space. The internal street is part of a broader system of pedestrian circulation between buildings and spaces which enhances movement and access in the greater precinct.
The materiality of the street takes cues from the existing working harbour aesthetic, with an unpretentious and robust honesty apparent throughout the space. The external facades consist mainly of unitised tiled panels with clear glazing “pop-outs”. Solar-shading assists in achieving the required 4-Star Green Star rating.
As the roof is visible from taller surrounding buildings, the roofscape is designed to be inhabited, with landscaping and a venue for building tenants’ events.
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Jeddah Mixed Use
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
The proposed development is a mixed use precinct which provides all required services and amenities for contemporary and upmarket urban living. The concept creates an activated urban realm, by providing a mix of residential accommodation, commercial office space, hotels, a retail mall, restaurants, traditional souks and public squares.
The design concept proposes a programmed perimeter wall reminiscent of old Jeddah, behind which lies an array of public spaces, connected with shaded retail streets.
Hotels, commercial buildings and restaurants are located on top of the perimeter wall and link to the ground floor plane to create spaces which are enticing and highly activated.
The scheme places an emphasis on pedestrian friendly spaces. Accordingly, all cars are housed in a super-basement, which connects to the ground floor plane via a sunken public square.
The retail stores and pedestrian street is covered by a giant lattice roof structure, which provides shade from the harsh Saudi climate.
The hotel and commercial buildings are designed as iconic structures, maximising the access to views from the upper floors. They are located at opposite ends of the main street interface, at the main entrances to the scheme. This creates clearly identifiable entrances and nodes along the main street, in order to enhance the scale and sense of arrival into the precinct.
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Glenhoff Boutique Hotel
Cape Town, South Africa
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