The building is mostly about the
personal interaction between wealth
manager and client, and the design
is not so much about offices, as it is
about public space.
“The core focus was lobbies, meeting
rooms, national and international
video-conferencing, catering and (of
course) the bar. “Slow Lounge” came
up a couple of times during the initial
briefings. Therefore we probably
used as much of our expertise in hotel
design as we did our experience in
commercial offices,” says Silke.
“Cape Town is part of the 100
Resilient Cities challenge and
contributing towards climate and city
resilience was an important element
of the building design,” adds Möller.
Green building elements which
aim to reduce the environmental
impact – such as energy reduction
and efficiency as well as the use of
natural materials – were included in
the building design while sustainable
practices were also used during the
construction phase. For example,
demolition and construction waste
was diverted from landfill and where
possible, recycled steel has been used.
The Citadel targets the efficient use of water and limits the impact of the
building’s emissions such as light pollution and ozone depletion. From an interior
environmental quality perspective, comfort factors such as external views and
glare control are taken into account. Ongoing assessment from the design, through
the construction phase until completion has seen The Citadel being awarded a
4-Star Green Star rating. “We veered well away from the commercial obsession
with glass boxes from the 1990’s and 2000’s – which is prohibitively expensive and
unsustainable. Instead we opted for a crafted stone façade from Namibian granite
– which offers dramatic efficiencies in heat gain and thermal efficiency. No expense
was spared on state-of-the-art electrical and mechanical systems, designed to
achieve drastic reductions in energy consumption. The Citadel has been rated
4-stars in the “as built” category of the Green Building Council of South Africa,
meaning that the building is not only designed for sustainability – but was actually
built that way.
Robert Silke & Partners’ Jessica White carried out the interior design for Citadel’s
internal areas and most of its sub-tenancies. Picking up from the stone facade,
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africandesignmagazine.com