Materials Visually the structure is dominated by three elements : the glass façades , the steel bridge link and the RC gable wall on the north façade . The glass , aluminium and steel elements are the more reflective and crisp elements , whereas the RC gable walls linking into the horizontal eyebrow roof slabs add a more monolithic element to the structure . The selection of offshutter RC as opposed to your more typical brick and plaster walls was more in keeping with the existing architectural language of the surrounding buildings and also avoided the concerns of excessive weathering and cracking of exposed plastered walls .
External painted surfaces were coated with Pro-struct 684 / 4 , which was specifically mixed for this project . With the location of the building relative to the Indian Ocean and the harsh humid Durban environment , it was critical that the coating product selected address these issues . Highly visible walls such as the lift shaft where tiled in a charcoal wall tile specifically chosen for this type of external application .
The central core areas are generally tiled or clad with shop-fitted surfaces . Besides the oak feature wall , the corners of the ablution core were clad with a white , grey and charcoal HP laminate board . These high use areas , where there was always going to be a lot of touching
of walls , products offering high wear durability were required .
Office floors were carpeted with a randomly laid multicolour carpet tile , which created some visual movement in the open plan office space and complemented the furniture choices . Pause areas were finished in a vinyl tile to aid the regular cleaning and introduced a more neutral wood tone to the vibrantly coloured area . All Lobby areas retained the same light grey and charcoal floor and wall tiles used in the central building .
Mechanical Overview The basement parking serving the entire office park is naturally ventilated . A new section of basement for Block A was constructed which restricted good ventilation so shunt-fans were installed to improve the situation . These are generally controlled by CO sensors and are also used for smoke clearance in the event of a basement fire .
Scissor-Stair Pressurisation This type of stair requires totally independent pressurisation systems . As the building is under 30m in height , the simplest and most cost effective way is to pressurise each interwoven staircase from a single entry point . For block A this was achieved by blowing air into the first basement landings of the two fire stairs .
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