Lighting in Design Q3 2019

De Villiers notes that the detailing of the stepped sheeting and the backlit polycarbonate cladding was a bit tricky, as was sourcing LED strip lights that would be strong enough to wash up the façade, which is, in some places, up to 14 m high). “We had great help from the electrical engineers in this regard and mock-ups were installed on site at an early stage for our approval. The structural engineers were very accommodating and assisted with the detailing of different brackets to mount the stepped sheeting,” he says. The importance of lighting “Lighting is the most important design tool we used to elevate the building from ‘just another industrial building’ to something noteworthy,” says deVilliers. “Apart from the important functional requirements of lighting, we think the creative use of lighting is often neglect- ed in industrial environments. Many industrial developments are in promi- nent locations along our highways, and we think it is important for these not to be neglected.” Internally, as the facility makes use of high racking elements, it was extremely important to ensure that the cold store lighting had as little glare as possible so the forklift operators can look up at the racks without their vision being affected. “We are glad to say that our vision has become a reality,” says de Villiers in conclusion. “The façade lighting is drawing a lot of attention and the building is a talking point in the industry in Cape Town; something that was achieved with minimal additional cost.”

PROJECTTEAM Architect: Joe de Villiers Architects

Electrical Engineers: Converge Consulting Lighting/Electrical Contractor: DC Electrical Structural/Mechanical engineers: MH&A Engineers Landscape Architects: CNDV Landscape Architects Cladding contractor: Cladco Main contractor: Isipani Developer: Abland Client: Southern African Fruit Terminals (PTY) Ltd QS: Du Toit/Pienaar

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LiD Q3 - 2019