Architect and Builder Apr/May 2018 | Page 48

The Site The site has quite a steep gradient with a fall of 14m over the length . The design of the buildings has to follow the slope and as such it was a challenge to not have basement parking levels dominate the aesthetic . Tiered landscaping was used to minimise the extent of the visible parking level to foster buildings that are part of the landscape . It was also quite challenging to have a contextual street relation as the buildings are separated by a see-through fence . The client acknowledged the importance of street activation or rather street frontage and allowed Building A at the main entrance not to have a fence separation between the sidewalk and the building .
Considered security measures within the ground floor design of Building A had to be implemented to ensure a secure and safe environment while still having the building as part of the sidewalk . The site placement of the buildings in terms of levels as well as creating pockets of planting on suspended slabs tries to increase the landscaped areas to the maximum .
Façade The façades comprise masonry cavity walls with Versus Textured Plaster , single and double glazed unitised aluminium façades as well as external horizontal and vertical steel screens for creepers .
WSP Building C which houses WSP , is built over 6,300m on a three level basement superstructure for both buildings A and C . The U-shaped building is accessible from the Basement level -1 on the eastern façade with
lobbies fronting onto street level . These lobbies , as well as the cyclist facility were placed at the eastern portion of the basement level to activate the eastern vehicular street . On the ground floor level , entrance into the building is via the landscaped courtyard into a three level atrium . The building was designed with two vertical circulation cores to ensure maximum future flexibility in terms of sub-tenants . The building has 330 parking bays .
As the anchor tenant for the first phase of the redevelopment project , WSP played a pivotal role in the design of not only the company ’ s own new building , but the layout and planning of the precinct . For the construction of their new HQ building , the company provided a full host of design consulting services – across civil , structural , mechanical , electrical and electronic , plumbing , fire and sustainability – and worked closely with the architect , project manager , quantity surveyor and full construction team , which resulted in a better coordinated outcome .
3D / Virtual Reality In the early design phase , WSP used its 3-dimensional ( 3D ) assets to design an immersive , gamified , virtual reality ( VR ) rendering of the planned redevelopment for the precinct and a detailed rendering for the company ’ s building .
Once the detailed rendering of the new HQ was completed , WSP were able to host 3D coordination sessions . This not only enabled the collective project team to ensure that the design process was done thoroughly , but also to identify any potential problems or snags early on in the design phases - and take
48 WSP Knightsbridge