Architect and Builder February/March 2019 | Page 8

DHK ARCHITECTS COMPLETES BATTERY PARK
NEWSWORTHY
FISCHER FLS
CHANNEL SYSTEM
HVAC
designers
and
installers
now have a lightweight, flexible
solution available to them in the
form of the fischer FLS channel
system
for
distributed
light
applications,
locally
by
leading
supplier Upat.
Available
in
three
different
sizes from 17mm to 30mm and
37mm, the system features 3m
long lengths as opposed to the
traditional 5m. In addition to the
low weight, this makes it easily
transportable to site..
The significant advantage of the
fischer FLS system is that it is
lightweight, which means that
the total load placed on a building
is reduced. This is particularly
beneficial
for
projects
refurbishment
such
as
converting
existing building stock in the
Johannesburg
residential
city
units.
centre
Being
into
older,
such buildings can only tolerate
a certain load, which means that
architects
and
engineers
have
to pay careful attention to what
is added.
Other
features
alternating
mounting
to
the
long
include the
slots the
channel,
in
form-fitting
elements.
This
in
addition
Battery Park is a new 1.2 hectare urban park situated at a key entranceway to the V&A
Waterfront in Cape Town. Developed as the nucleus of a larger urban vision for the district,
the site includes a park and piazza that effectively conceal a 1,206-bay parking facility as well
as new pedestrian routes to invigorate the precinct with activity. The site is of archaeological
importance as it contains the remnants of one of the city’s oldest structures, the Amsterdam
Battery. This provided a unique opportunity for architecture and urban design firm, dhk, to
pay homage to the historic landmark whilst incorporating a parking facility and providing
spaces for leisure and recreational activities.
The project forms part of an urban design framework created by dhk for the V&A’s
previously underutilised Canal District that facilitates the reconnection of the historical city
centre and De Waterkant to the V&A.
During construction of Battery Park
archaeological excavations revealed
former datums which were used to
inform the design. The raised park has
been kept at the battery’s original inner
courtyard level whilst planted edges
above retail units on the piazza represent
the estimated natural ground level that
fronted the battery. Various architectural
and landscaped elements reflect the
structure’s original footprint, such as semi-
circular curved pathways, concrete additions to the rear ramparts, splayed canal-facing walls
and concrete-clad structures - giving visitors an authentic sense of the battery’s former size.
The requirement to respect the original inner courtyard datum and create a lower-level
piazza resulted in an elevated park with views across the V&A and CBD but with the challenge
of managing the transition between the two levels. Therefore, a large part of Battery Park’s
design concept was manifested in breaking the barrier between the park and piazza and
bringing them closer to one another. The vision was to create scale between the two levels
and provide visual cues to visitors; offering a glimpse of the park while they meander along
the canal edge. This was also achieved by means of various soft and hard landscaping
elements such as a grand concrete staircase leading from the piazza to the park, sloping
and folding walls, and plants to draw the eye to the park above.
On the elevated park level, visitors can explore landscaped gardens with trees and stone-
clad planters, meandering walkways with built-in benches, a concrete skatepark, basketball
court and new pedestrian routes.
The lower piazza level contains 11 boutique retail units that line the splayed canal-facing
walls and form an active eastern edge to the new canal pedestrian route. Referencing the
battery’s original façade, loosely packed stone-filled gabion walls shroud the parking facility
and stone-clad planters contain fynbos and waterwise plants. These antiquated elements
juxtapose contemporary insertions that reference the battery rather than replicate its heritage.
www.dhk.co.za
connector
allows
for
optimised fixing in the substrate.
The mounting channel also has
a serration with stamped teeth
to facilitate installation of the
connector elements, plus edge
seams for a perfect fit. Cutting
and
positioning
are
simplified
further by the scale marked on the
mounting channels.
A major benefit of the system is
that it comprises pre-assembled
construction
elements,
which
reduces the possibility of arriving
to site with missing components
or incomplete units.
www.upat.co.za
8
News Watch