LONGITUDINAL SECTION
SECOND FLOOR PLAN architecture today . BIM will hopefully re-establish the architect as the leader of the design team . Of course , it is unclear whether most architects have an appetite to not only be the designer , but also to control delivery as well , and to host the model . The BIM environment , with its federated model , will force consultants to interact more rigorously . Architecture is not black box magic ; rather , it is about sharing and speaking , and , of course , creating great buildings and urban spaces . And most importantly , and this is where BIM goes beyond Revit , in that it looks beyond the finished product to building ’ s life-cycle and maintenance .
Buildings are not merely created for that wondrous photograph in an architectural magazine , but need to be liveable and beautiful in ten or fifty years time . BIM stresses this aspect of construction , and the life of the building beyond beneficial occupation . Lord Kelvin , he of temperature fame , taught us “ that if you cannot measure it , you cannot improve it ”, and BIM gives us the tools to create , co-ordinate , and to build a database of the buildings performance , and thus , improve .
At Citadel , Louis Karol as architect and principal agent , together with our fellow consultants , contractor and sub-consultants , have combined together to create and deliver a building that we believe will survive the test of time .
GROUND FLOOR PLAN
DESIGN ARCHITECT ’ S COMMENT For thousands of years , great societies have erected stone citadels during turbulent periods . From Jerusalem to Beijing and from Rome to Babylon , great city states have , from time immemorial , sought to make oases of order and prosperity within a seemingly chaotic world outside . And when citadels are commissioned , they are ( more often than not ) erected from solid stone . Augustus Caesar was said to have boasted , “ I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble .”
And in the modern era , when a financial house builds headquarters , you want to convey that A .) The organisation has been around for some time , whilst B .) The organisation will continue to be around for a very long time to come - which is why banks often prefer the most traditional of materials . Whilst glass and aluminium may speak very much of the mode and moment , it is stone that speaks to traditional values and offers any kind of promise of permanence into the future .
And whilst available stone types can range from sandstones to marbles , the most durable and expensive is granite - which was chosen for Citadel Investment Services ’ new 6,000m ² Cape Town Head Office at the corner of Warwick Road and Cavendish Street in Claremont , Cape Town - on the old Boardmans site opposite Cavendish Square . “ The Citadel ” comprises a six-storey , four-star green building , with four basement
66 The Citadel