Construction World December 2018

Architects

A ccess to the site is off Baker Street, allowing staff, visitor and delivery access. Pedestrians visiting the corporate tenant gain access at two of their designated entrances, whereas the retail mall visitors gain access through the existing central spine. The new paved walkways around the building have been tailored with new foot-traffic densities from the Gautrain Station to the Rosebank Mall. The 33 Baker Street building was originally developed by the Sasol Pension Fund. With the exit of Sasol Group from Rosebank, it became necessary to rejuvenate 33 Baker in addition to accommodating a large corporate tenant. Clearly commanding attention, the façade provides the perfect counterbalance between light and dark through the subtle use of texture. The striking glass curtain wall represents the perfect combination of aesthetics and practicality, sweeping across over 80% of the building’s exterior. Although the building has a strong exposure on the corner of Oxford Road and Baker Street, it is diminutive in scale compared to the adjacent buildings and demanded a new architectural expression that would achieve a unique identity. The intention was to replace the building’s existing outdated façade with a modern, contemporary flavour. This entailed demolition of the entire façade and pitched roofing, enclosing in all but one of the recesses in the façade cladding with a curtain wall concept and introducing a new roof concealed behind the new façade. Since the building could not be extended vertically, the proportions of the existing structure presented an opportunity to remodel the 33 BAKER STREET The existing, prominent site is a landmark in the Rosebank precinct positioned on the corner of Oxford Road and Baker Street. It lies opposite the Rosebank Gautrain Station and adjacent to the The Zone @Rosebank & Rosebank Mall. It is easily accessible and highly visible in the surrounding urban fabric.

building with a horizontal emphasis to achieve a more simplified, modern and elegant design. This was achieved by demolition of the entire façade and pitched roofing, closing in all but one of the indentations in the façade, cladding with a curtain wall concept and introducing a new roof concealed behind the new façade. All existing concrete structural elements remained, the addition of new Bondek slab in-fills allowed for the expansion of the building’s footprint. New steel framing structures allowed for the fixing of the curtain wall system as well as the aluminium cladding. The decision to enclose the existing indentations in the façade had the added benefit of increasing the lettable office area within the building, thus creating more usable office plates. The total GLA was increased to 13 400 m 2 which includes the existing retail tenants that remained, and the new corporate tenant area. Water efficient initiatives have been implemented in the new development. These include sensor taps in the ablutions facilities, kitchens and pause area faucets. In addition to this, all showers in the building are fitted with low-flow showerheads. These initiatives collectively reduce the building’s potable water demand, and thus reduces the pressure from the already stressed municipal supply. Energy saving light fittings have been installed throughout the building. Office floors and meeting rooms have also been fitted with occupancy sensors with lighting zones no greater than 100 m 2 . This minimises the energy consumption for lighting purposes by a large extent; turning off lights in unoccupied zones. All water use and major energy consuming equipment is metred and connected to the BMS for real-time monitoring, allowing for timeous reporting and response on all faulty systems. This ensures that the building operates as per the intended design. The interior of the building is finished with materials that provide building users with a desirable acoustic environment. 

PROJECT INFORMATION

• Company entering: SVA International • Client: Sasol Pension Fund • Main Contractor: WBHO Construction • Architect: SVA International • Principal Agent: Term Project Management • Quantity Surveyor: Matla Quantity Surveyors • Consulting Engineer: Sutherland Engineers

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