Architect and Builder Dec 2017 / Jan 2018 | Page 32

Façade
Engineered by Arup, the east and west façades
consist of masonry walls with punctured windows
lined with aluminium pop-out elements which
frame the openings. This provides a contrast
between masonry and metal elements, but also
provides a 3-dimensional façade aesthetic. The
brick façade creates a counterpoint to the largely
glazed buildings in the rest of the Silo District,
responding directly to the exposed aggregate
façade of the Zeitz MOCAA.
The façade allows for maximum utility and quick
glass replacement of the window and its surround
by using readily locally available materials and
fabrication techniques. The windows are double-
glazed with performance glass and provide the
best possible unobstructed view out of the hotel
rooms, while maximising natural daylight and
minimising heat gain. The expressed aluminium
‘picture frame’ surround of the windows creates a
sophisticated crisp offset to the rough surrounding
industrial-aesthetic brickwork.
Façade Materials
Materials are a combination of hardwearing
facebrick envelope with a robust concrete
structural frame to reflect the robust harbour
environment, metal work and sheet metal cladding
to convey the warehouse/semi-industrial character.
The facebrick façade has been laid in a deliberate
random stretcher bond coursing rendered with a
cementitious, organic paint - an application from
KEIM Mineral Silicate systems. The combination of
a Corobrik De Hoop reject facebrick, and the organic
silicate Keim application was chosen to provide
a ‘weathered look’, in-keeping with the design
intent. In addition, the client wanted a durable
façade which would require low maintenance. The
silver wash provided by KEIM, and applied as the
top coat over the rendered application, gives the
façade a shimmer which changes with the façade
with the light of day.
The façade materials chosen for public areas on
the ground floor are a combination of full height
glazing, with high thermal performance to provide
the transparency and positive interface between
exterior and interior spaces with the public realm.
To improve thermal performance, Sunergy clear
glass was selected for the ground floor, and
Sunergy grey for the guest rooms which also
provides sun control. The desired effect was the
industrial effect of ‘crittal shopfronts’, which meant
that the aluminium profiles had to be as narrow
as possible and the window panes are smaller
dimensioned than huge glass panels.
Design
The ground floor promotes an active and trans-
parent edge which opens up to the pedestrianised
32
No 6 Silo