SA: Sandton Eye:Giving a View of what’s to come in Sandton
Hot on the heels of a previously successful development, the developers of Sandton Eye felt the property market was in need of a second round of upmarket schemes.
Recognising the opportunity in having a mixed-use development with hotel accommodation and retail options diagonally across from the future site of Gautrain station, which envisages 12 ,000 commuters an hour, as well as the imminent bus rapid transit (BRT) station, Sandton Eye is poised to reap immense patronage upon completion.
Design Plan
The development was structurally designed to reach 33 floors above ground. However, it will be limited to 25 floors, due to the developers recognition of the sway in the market as a result of the global economic woes. The structural lateral stability of the tower was achieved by designing the central core with 45mm thick concrete walls at 50MPa. The central core is capable of resisting all lateral forces. Perimeter columns thus resist the vertical loads.
Currently the plan includes two phases, with the first phase developing up to the 13th floor; thereafter the subsequent phase will carry the balance of floors. The top level of phase 1 is designed as a working platform which allows all future construction to start from the platform without back propping. “The design feature will conserve time and money”, states Stephan Lapage of Dippenaar & Lapage, consulting civil and structural engineers.
A burgeoning mixed use development in the epicentre of Sandton’s CBD; providing 5,000m2 of prime boutique retail, 20 000m2 of offices, a 200-room 5-star Radisson Blu hotel and 12 luxury penthouse suites will be opening in April 2010.
The building comprises three floors of retail space of approximately 5,000m2, a 5-star Radisson Blu 200-key hotel, which will greatly assist the growing demand for exclusive accommodation in Sandton generally, as well as in preparation for the 2010 World Cup. The balance of the mixed-use development will comprise 25,000m2 of offices over 13 floors and 12 penthouses on the top floors.
Desiring not to be too limited by the current economic crisis, the selection of building materials were a combination of economic considerations and selections that would represent the iconic status of Sandton Eye developers were striving for. To this end, the facade treatments reflect coated precast concrete cladding mixed with expansive glazing panels in the form of punched windows on the hotel bedroom levels, multiple–level curtain walling on the upper 3 floors, and generous shop fronts on the retail and hotel public levels. Though a relative straight-forward and basic construction platform, Sandton Eye did have some interesting features and challenges.
Challenges
“One point of interest is that all the suspended concrete floor slabs extending over the footprint of the tower block are post tensioned, which in a development required to be as flexible as this one, creates its own challenges, as we had to make a lot of post construction penetrations for services, stair and lift shafts,” says Jeff Ehrlich of SIP Project Managers.
A late request by the client for an additional lift to the retail area, forced it to be positioned in the same shaft directly below one of the hotel lifts, which according to the lift contractor is the first time this technique has been implemented in the country.
Another challenge mentioned by Ehrlich was that the client, to a large extent, tailored the development to provide optimum returns in the current difficult economic circumstances, ‘thus we have undergone many revisions and changes to enable the client to accommodate the requirements and complete the first phase of the development.”
The number of columns were also limited due to the underground parking areas needing trafficable clearances and the original brief’s design of 33 floors. Possibly a first in the country’s construction industry, the column’s concrete strength was specified at 90MPa.
Going through such challenges are worth the benefits Sandton Eye brings. Aside from providing much needed luxury accommodation and added retail options to the economic hub of Sandton, the development is viewed as a catalyst for other developments in the immediate area, which are currently occupied with townhouses and apartment complexes, which from a property developer’s view, the land can be much more profitable once developments such as Sandton Eye are built in their place.
PROJECT TEAM
| Client | Savana Property |
| Project Managers | SIP Project Managers |
| Architect | Tower Design Studio |
| Wet Services | SJ Franklin Consulting Tower Design Studio |
| Mechanical Engineers | Spoormaker and Partners |
| Fire Consultant | TWCE |
| Civil Engineer | KVH |
| Safety Consultants | Bitline SA |
| Facade Consultant | Arup Consulting Engineers< |
| Electrical Engineer | CKR Consulting Engineers |
| Quantity Surveyor | CPS Quantity Surveyors |
| Structural Engineer | Dippenaar & Lapage |
| Main Contractor | WBHO |
