Architect and Builder August/September 2019 | Page 29

parking structure and therefore has nine floors
of above-ground parking, with 11 floors of office
space catering for 1,000 parking bays.
The Building
From a tenancy perspective the design team
wanted to take advantage of the building’s
height and maximise the panoramic views to
the north and south over Sandton. The views
from the interior of the building to the north and
south are completely expansive from floor to
ceiling, with no breaks in the glazing, including
spandrels and cills.
The rest of the envelope is clad in a mixture
of A2 rated aluminium composite panel (ACP)
and unitised double glazing in one system. The
chosen system lent itself to being responsive to
conditions on site and was required in terms of
energy efficiency, HVAC design and ventilation.
1 Park Lane
Using the latest technology to identify hot
spots, a very specific design pattern was assigned
to the ACP in order to meet requirements
from a heating and cooling perspective as a
certain percentage of the façade facing west
and east was required to be solid to account
for temperature regulation within the building.
Without the temperature regulation integrated
into the building’s envelope, the HVAC system
would not be able to cool the interior space down
sufficiently. A unitised façade system was used to
maximise the structural requirements of the design
whilst containing costs.
The challenging aspect of this façade design
was to source a glass that looked exactly the
same in both single and double glazed versions,
ensuring a completely seamless look to the
façade throughout. Extensive research was
carried out into the glass options available until
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