A ROUND-UP OF RECENTLY COMPLETED PROJECTS AND UNVEILED DESIGNS

STANDARD CHARTERED BANK, ACCRA

A corporate head office development for Standard Chartered Bank in Accra, designed by South African practice MDS Architecture, is an iconic addition to Ghana’s landscape. Bringing the latest international trends to the fore, the 14-storey building offers 12 000m 2 GLA. Donald McGillivray, a partner at MDS Architecture, says the new build is uniquely Ghanaian in identity, while ensuring compliance with international standards and design elements for Standard Chartered Bank. The building is located on the intersection of two major roads in Accra, close to the CBD and a short drive from the airport. As such it is a highly visible and prominent site.

The structure offers five levels of parking to house 584 vehicles with eight floors of sub-divisible open-plan offices for Standard Chartered Bank, as well as other tenants. As such, the building design needed to conform to Standard Chartered Bank’s worldwide design criteria by applying global specifications for all their buildings.

Despite ensuring compliance with global norms, the Standard Chartered building’s interior has been specifically tailored to celebrate its Ghanaian location. This identity is evoked through vernacular patterns throughout the building.

McGillivray says that the design is contemporary and features a double-glazed curtain wall façade. “The parking structure is clad in a naturally ventilated screen, which brings to mind vibrant West African fabrics in the pattern design,” he says. This pattern is also infused on the glazing to the office façade through a process called fritting, which involved pre-printing the pattern on the inside face of the double glazing during the manufacturing process. “In addition to the aesthetic value, fritting assists with heat and light emissions,” he explains.

The ground floor includes a retail bank and a coffee shop, which opens onto an outside terrace on the street. “In this way, the building’s ground floor becomes part of the urban fabric and integrates into the sidewalk,” says McGillivray.

Landscaping has been kept simple to maximise visibility and existing trees on the perimeter have been retained. The hardscape paving design is pedestrian friendly and maximises accessibility to the public.

The building design includes measures to ensure that it is self-sufficient – it has full generator back-up, a borehole facility with water chlorinated from boreholes and stored in domestic and fire water tanks in the building. This will supplement municipal water and ensure uninterrupted supply when municipal water is not available.

A sewer treatment plant has been incorporated on site. LED lighting has been specified throughout to save energy costs, the building is thermally efficient with double-glazed façades and a sun/shade co-efficient has been applied to the glass. www.mdsarch.co.za

Sandton Gate

Abland and Tiber, joint developers of the Sandton Gate precinct, are on track to complete Phase 1 of the much-anticipated mixed-use development. The first phase will include 15 500m 2 commercial space, 13 000m 2 P-grade office space and a 2 500m 2 Planet Fitness positioned on the piazza level of the building. Confirmed tenants, who include Mimecast, will call Sandton Gate home as of 1st November 2019. “Due to the high demand following the launch of phase 1, we aim to break ground for phase 2 in 2020. We’ve redesigned phase 2 to include more retail offerings that will include a grocery store and pharmacy as anchor tenants, as well as a hotel and a holistic medical offering. Other amenities will include restaurants, coffee shops, salons and other convenience stores,” says Grant Silverman, Marketing and Leasing Director, Abland.

The residential component of the precinct, which will comprise 137 units of two- and three-bed penthouses, has launched and infrastructural work and the bulk earthworks have started. With the completion of residential first phase envisaged for Q4 2020, the developers are aiming to hit pre-sale target by August this year, which means construction of the top structure will commence Q4 2019.

Jurgens Prinsloo, Managing Director of Abland, notes, “With a project of this size we couldn’t ignore the need for road upgrades. Abland undertook extensive traffic impact assessments to get an idea of the traffic impact once the project is complete. As part of the infrastructural advancements, a new intersection on William Nicol between Mattie and Sandton Drive is currently underway. There will also be an introduction of additional lanes to ensure seamless access to the precinct and decrease potential congestion around the area. Ultimately, there are seven substantial upgrades that we’re doing, ranging from the Peter Place intersection, Republic intersection, Mattie intersection, Sandton Drive and William Nicol.” Phase 2 of the development will be ready for occupation Q1 2021.

THE DUKE

The Mosaic Group, a housing developer responsible for redeveloping several inner-city buildings in downtown Durban, is bringing its insight, expertise and technical wizardry to Cape Town, releasing the first of 81 luxury apartments in The Duke, situated on the corner of Hans Strijdom Avenue and Lower Heerengracht in Cape Town. The hotel-living-style apartments offer stunning interiors, a rooftop deck and pool, and breathtaking views of bustling tree-lined city avenues against the backdrop of Table Mountain.

The building was redesigned by architect Lisa Rorich, famous for her work on exquisite luxury lodges like Singita in Tanzania, and others in Botswana and the Seychelles. The interiors were created by Raewyn Hayhoe, known for her green-building specialisation and luxurious eco-friendly residential lifestyle estates.

The interiors feature a muted palette of charcoal, moody greens and bronze. Polished-concrete floors, Calacatta marble vanity tops and granite countertops, honed black subway tiling, and Bordeaux Oak veneers are cleverly blended with beautiful signature features like Victoria and Albert basins, amber glass pendant cluster lights, Parisian ribbed floor-to-ceiling glass screens and Meir tiger-bronze taps. The stunning views can be enjoyed from novel window-box cushioned seats.

Alongside Mosaic Group, Lisa Rorich Architects and Evolution Architects, other members of the development team include DDK Design, Spoormaker and Partners (mechanical and electrical engineers), STBB (conveyancers), and Hulme and Associations (structural and civil engineers).