First National Bank Expands in Botswana
This is manifest in one of Botswana’s largest financial institutions, First National Bank (FNB), which has placed yet another one of its landmarks in Francistown. The P37 million(5 million USD) project commenced in October 2008 and is expected to be complete by the end of December 2009.
Client’s brief
The client requested a building to house the new offices for FNB. In response, a reinforced concrete structure for the building was designed before actual construction could take place. The structure, to fit in the architect’s conception, consisted of a basement for parking, ground floor with the bank’s main entrance and first and second floors for general office use. A further small area at third floor level was designed to house a lift motor room and the air conditioning plant. You might say our brief was the architect’s design.
In the modern era of capitalism, the world’s direction is dictated by capital and the flow of it around the globe. As nations continue to experience economic growth, so do the institutions which finance this growth.
Construction mode
The construction adopted was conventional reinforced concrete construction. The floors were a third party patented system, similar to a rib and block called Litdeck, where the rib consists of a cold rolled steel section with appropriate reinforcement inside it and the lost shutter (as the block in the rib and block slab) is usually made using wooden boxes of standard cross section and length to suit the design spans.
Overview on the scope of works
Project consists of a three storey building comprising a banking hall, offices and basement parking. The floor finishes are intended to be porcelain tiles and carpets in the offices. The external halls are to be finished using aluminium finish with curtain walling. This is intended to give the building a modern 21st century upmarket face look. Concrete paving will be implemented in the parking area and walkways coupled with associated landscaping.
Remarkable features
From the structural design point of view, the circular beams in the main entrance facade were the most interesting feature.
Secondly, the unique design with a curved frontage coupled with the upmarket finishes suite the corporate client very much.
Challenges
From the structural perspective, the reasonably high torsional stresses forced the design to include extra supporting beams. Worthy of mention, is also that staircase 4 and the very heavy loads imposed by the bank’s storage areas on selected ground floor areas. The latter added to the space problems experienced in the basement with its limited headroom and width spaces.
Another challenge was the discovery of a hard-rock while digging the foundation on which the building would stand. This hurdle was crossed by carefully blasting the rock
Project Team
Project Manager: Time Projects Botswana
Architect: Nuttall Smith Architects – Francistown.
Electrical & Mechanical Engineer: Systems & Services (Gaborone)
Civil & Structural Engineers: TTCS Consulting Engineers
Quantity Surveyors: The Fitzwilliam Partnership
