a wide publically accessed double volume route
through the podium from the south to the north,
allowing movement to and from the access road
and platform as well as any future development to
the north from the southern public edge.
The authors of the precinct guidelines had
always intended that the building envisaged for
this particular site would be significantly larger than
all of the others. Dealing with this large scale in the
precinct became one of the principal challenges.
The extensive use of glazing resulted in not only
magnificent views from all of the hotel rooms and
apartments but also allowed for the opportunity to
highlight the structural components beneath. This
horizontal and vertical expression resulted in a rich
articulation of the façade and a clear expression of
the various accommodations and ancillary spaces.
This was further refined and reinforced through the
careful choice of colour and shade. Despite its size
the building sits comfortably among its neighbours
in this exciting and developing precinct.
Structural Engineering
One of the main engineering challenges Devilliers
Consulting had to deal with during construction of
the project was the excavation and construction
of the basement below sea level with a canal
connected to the sea directly adjacent to the site.
The building is over 200m long with a footprint
of just over 10,000m 2 which translates to about
57,000m 3 of excavated material. Water is collected
in a drainage layer connected to a sump from
where the water is permanently pumped out to
keep the basement from flooding.
The building is founded on piles. The old sea
culvert, built to supply cooling water to the old
Cape Town power station, runs diagonally across
the site. A series of spreader beams onto piles
either side had to be introduced to span across
the remains of this 8m wide culvert to allow for
columns to be constructed on grid above.
In addition to these challenges, two levels of
transfer beams had to be introduced to cater for
the different column grids of the different usages
at various levels.
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The Yacht Club