to the Waterfront. The cladding on the façade is a
dark grey, large format, scratch resistant ceramic
cladding tile from Turkey that is so hard that it is
also specified for use as kitchen counter tops. The
battleship grey colour of this cladding gives the
building that secure corporate banking aesthetic.
The interior reflects upon the regional status
of the Free State building and is inspired by
the natural materials and palette colours of the
bushveld. The overall interior design carries through
various local and commercial environmental
themes such as agriculture, mining, transport and
sandstone ‘koppies’.
Bomax designed the atrium chandelier and
had it made in Cape Town. Dion comments; “I
love the edgy deconstructed mood the chandelier
creates against the ordered interior façades. Like
‘shards of glass’ the chandelier creates tension in
the space, not foreign to a corporate environment
- it is sculptural and designed to fill the volume
with a feeling.” Apart from the numerous informal
meeting areas, rooms and ‘scrum areas’, the
building boasts a state-of-the-art conference
room, equipped with the latest video conferencing
technology, a restaurant for employees and a
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rooftop recreational area with expansive views
over the city.
Sustainability
The building employs various eco-friendly features.
The atrium is designed to maximise natural light
with a new acrylic sheeting product instead of
glass that achieves both the required heat gain
and insulation values. A 100KWp photo voltaic
solar system is designed for the rooftop that
generates 170MWh of power per annum. This
takes advantage of the cloudless sunny days
in Bloemfontein. The West sun does become
extreme so the architects designed the west
façade with less glazing and more cladding. This
cladding is ventilated on a frame away from the
building which prevents heat gain to the interior.
The glass used is Low Emissivity coated to prevent
heat loss in winter and tinted grey to prevent heat
gain in summer. A 20,000 litre portable water
storage tank provides two days worth of water
backup. The site also has a borehole, which is used
for the irrigation of plants and lawns. Generators
provide back up power to the building for five days
utilising a fuel supply housed on site.
First Place