Space Planning
The spatial requirement was for an open plan office area,
a single closed office, two meeting rooms and a large multiuse training room. The training room needed to be flexible
so as to accommodate the full team from the adjacent J&J
Administration offices as well as able to be reconfigured for
medical demonstrations and training sessions for the GPH team.
It was decided to elaborate on this requirement, by incorporating
a pause area and informal meeting area where the teams could
break away from their desks in a relaxed environment, either to
work, meet or simply take a break.
Lighting
The lighting design was carefully planned in conjunction with
Gideon Naude of Mapule Consulting. Johnson and Johnson has
certain global standards with which our design had to comply; one
of these aspects is the inclusion of occupation sensors throughout
the space for energy efficiency. Most of the lighting used is LED
lighting in various formats, from downlights to concealed strip
lights in bulkheads and joinery. Even the recessed lights in the
general office area are LED’s.
Challenges
Part of the brief was to create a 100 to 120 seater lecture room
with the necessary acoustic properties, while still complying with
fire regulations. This meant constructing the room out of 2 hour
fire rate drywall, with sound absorbing material to the cavities. The
drywall had to be taken up to the undersid e of the roof sheeting,
4 to 5 metres above. All penetrations for trusses, HVAC ducts
and wire ways etc had to be properly sealed with fire dampers.
Being on a tight deadline for completion by the beginning of
April 2016, this created several challenges from a technical and
project schedule point of view. Once the main structure was up
and compliant, acoustic ceiling tiles were installed and the result
is a room that functions well acoustically and complies with the
relevant fire regulations.
The end result is a world class corporate environment that
emphasises the international nature of the Johnson & Johnson
brand whilst combining elements that highlight its local in Africa.
Johnson & Johnson
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