One Protea Place
Receives the first Green Star SA Building certification
Developed by Zenprop for a prestigious law firm, One Protea Place exudes an iconic design that reflects the law firm’s stature and meets the required 16,000m2 office space layout of cellular and open-plan offices.
Developed by Zenprop for a prestigious law firm, One Protea Place exudes an iconic design that reflects the law firm’s stature and meets the required 16,000m2 office space layout of cellular and open-plan offices. With approximately 8 months into construction ahead of its December 2010 completion, it is envisaged that the design will make an impressive statement on Sandton’s landscape and successfully utilise the site, while providing efficient landscaping, lighting and office space.
At the corner of Fredman Drive and Protea Place is home to One Protea Place, a prestigious office development which, once completed at the end of 2010, will benefit from its prime exposure within the Sandton CBD, ease of accessibility and proximity to various amenities in the financial node, including the popular Sandton City retail centre.
From Conception to Action
Paragon Architects leads the design team and was tasked with forming the building concept and determining the basic design solution to achieve the appropriate construction method for the allocated budget.
Korina Schmidt, a project manager of Paragon Architects, says “The most challenging requirement of the brief was to fit the requested area into the tight and restrictive site. In order to comfortably achieve the space requirement , the building’s footprint had to mimic the shape of the site”.
The outcome is a 16-storey building comprising seven parking levels (five that are underground) and nine office levels. The basic office level footprint features two towers enclosing a central atrium, set atop the sturdier base of the parking levels.
The central atrium has east and west facing glass walls—the eastern atrium wall opens up over a water feature, allowing pedestrians to enter the building by crossing the water. Via the extensive use of glazed façades and the strip skylights in the atrium roof, generous amounts of natural light permeates the offices and provides active awareness of both the interior and exterior environments of the building.
Both towers are connected by link bridges spanning across the atrium and are covered by a large floating roof that hovers over the Eastern entrance façade. The southern tower’s atrium wall reaches out towards the centre of the atrium adding a dramatic effect to the otherwise rational composition of the two towers.
Selecting Choice Materials
Influenced by the client’s brief, the design team intends to deliver a contemporary building with crisp, clean lines. The idea for the building’s exterior was to use a limited material palette allowing prominence to the sculptural effects of the architecture.
The main form of the building is light and glazed, contradicted by a solid sculptural off-shutter concrete tower in the southwest. Enhancing the sculptural massing of the building, glazed facades are expressed as a monolith with as little differentiation between the vision and spandrel panel as possible.
The west façade of the north tower and the east façade of the south tower form a combination of the light see-through glazing and solid concrete elements. These solid elements will be articulated as strips randomly interspersed with vertical strip windows.
“Our material choice for the solid strips went through a long development process but we chose a panel made of M1, an organic composite consisting of a mineral crystal base and a water-based acrylic resin. The lightness and versatility that the M1 material offers, made it an ideal cladding material,” says Schmidt.
Recognising that the glass façades had to comply with strict performance rates, due to their exposure to the external elements, the design team elected to use a blue-grey low-e (low emissive) glass by Guardian.
Making the transition from the sculptural magnificence of the external design, the designers wanted the interior palette to add warmth to the environment.
“Natural colours and materials in the tiles, timber wall cladding and details are offset against the clean glazed lines of the atrium,” continues Schmidt.
“The close relationship between the architecture and the interior finishing is carried through to the detailing, furnishing, fittings and artworks, to create a seamless whole with carefully chosen points of drama and interest.”
PROJECT TEAM
| Architect | Aftek Consulting Engineers |
Project Manager |
Baseline Project Management |
Surveyor |
Charley Crowther Surveys |
Structural Engineer |
DG Consulting Engineers |
Landscape Architect |
Insite Landscape Architects |
Construction Programmers |
Orion Project Managers |
Interior Designer |
Savile Row |
Quantity Surveyor |
Schoombie Hartmann |
Electrical Engineer |
Standard Electrical |
Rational Fire Design |
TWCE |
