Architect and Builder August/September 2019 | Page 48

PROJECT FEATURE
CITY OF CAPE TOWN
WATER &
SANITATION
DEPARTMENT OF
WATER & SANITATION
Cape Town
CLIENT
City of Cape Town
PROJECT MANAGERS
Van Zyl & Associates
Goal Zero Green Building
ARCHITECTS IN ASSOCIATION
EHH Architects Inc
DK Architects
QUANTITY SURVEYOR
Annalie Blokker - LWA Quantity Surveyors
CIVIL, STRUCTURAL, MECHANICAL
AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
iX Engineers
GREEN BUILDING CONSULTANT
Goal Zero Green Building
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
OVP Associates
HEALTH & SAFETY CONSULTANT
Solid State Group
MAIN CONTRACTOR
Group Five
PHOTOGRAPHY
Adam Letch
Wianelle Briers
T
he new head office for the City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Department
was derived from the need to consolidate various departments throughout the city
into a single use building. Located on the corner of Mike Pienaar and Voortrekker
Road in Bellville, the building has become a new landmark on the busy intersection and
aims to act as a catalyst for future urban development along Voortrekker Road.
Brief
With various branches of the Department of Water & Sanitation located throughout the
city, the brief was to consolidate the management of the various branches into one central
location. While each branch generally works independently, having all branches under
one roof will encourage communication and stimulate inter-departmental cooperation.
This required considerable space and the concept of the design was to create a uniform
building which allows each department to keep their individual spaces whilst forming
part of the bigger organisation with better integration and proximity.
The Design
From the outset, the design was to reinforce the infinite life cycle of water with the
design of an interconnected water collection point, feature and filtration system that
connects the interior and exterior of the building which both users and visitors to the
building get to experience. This theme of ‘flow’ was carried through to the exterior
façade, signifying both the use of the building and acknowledgement of context on such
a busy intersection with the ‘flow of people cars’. The interior design is a continuation
of the concept and allows the various departments and ancillary facilities to flow into
one another by means of an open-plan office layout with centralised circulation spaces.
The layering of the building is
visible in the choice of materials:
concrete, aluminium and glass
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Water & Sanitation