PROJECTVIEW
LE MERIDIEN , ACCRA , GHANA
Situated in Accra , Bentel Associates International have designed the first Le Meridien branded hotel in Ghana – a new upscale 160- key hotel product to complement the existing hospitality offerings . The proposed hotel has been strategically located in the prestigious and well developed Airport City area in close proximity to the Kotoka International Airport . From the Hotel perspective , core pillars of the brand design philosophy were required to be incorporated within the proposed design . This included for designing according to the pre-determined brand standards , whilst also following the brand mission as ‘ destination unlocked ’, and including architectural and interior influences which are locally-inspired yet unique in their aesthetic . The façade of the building takes its cues from the lively and colourful fashion of the local people , which is the Ghanaian culture , with the introduction of a screen wall of colour patterns to the solid end walls . The layering of a folding composite timber louvre screens to the lower level podium façade takes its influence from the local vernacular architecture , which uses vertical screen elements in openings as a way to allow for natural ventilation within the structure . These screens on the building are a visual filter which allow the creative traveller to discover the building when viewed from different angles .
THE HASSO PLATTNER SCHOOL OF DESIGN THINKING , MIDDLE CAMPUS , UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN
The University of Cape Town received funding from the Hasso Plattner Foundation for a new building for the School of Design Thinking to be located on Middle Campus , UCT . The school is currently accommodated at the Breakwater Campus where it has outgrown its space .
In 2018 , after winning an invited competition , KMH Architects were awarded the commission to design the building . Over the intervening two years an extensive co-creation process has been undertaken between the design team , the client and the end-user to design a building appropriate and relevant to teaching design thinking in the South African and African context .
Early co-creation workshops identified the concept of the d-school being a ‘ creative community under a roof ’ which in turn informed the building design as an arrangement of spaces around a busy multi-use atrium held under a unifying free-form lattice shell roof .
This central space will be open to all students and staff across the university and has been located on the site at the confluence of existing routes used to move between lower and upper campuses . The learning spaces themselves , arranged around the center , have an open aspect to the atrium and have been designed with maximum flexibility in mind to allow the d-school to prototype their way into the building . With this hierarchy of spaces , the d-school presents an inclusive and public face to the university , aligned with the school ’ s objective to work across all departments of UCT .
Another key objective arising from the co-creation process was the importance of sustainable design . The building is therefor targeting a GBSA 6 star World Leadership certification . Sustainable design solutions include a Thermally Activated Building System ( TABS ), passive shading façade design , daylight optimization and smart lighting , water harvesting and recycling and PV energy generation . The site was handed over to Haw & Inglis in October 2020 with completion expected in the 1st quarter of 2022 .
Client : UCT Property and Services Architect : KMH Architects Project Manager : Fluid Projects Quantity Surveyor : RLB Pentad Structural & Civil Engineer : Welby-Solomon Mechanical & Wet Services Engineer : WSP Africa
Electrical Engineer : Ifindo Fire Engineer : De Villiers & Moore Landscape Architect : TK-LA Green Building Consultant : PJ Carew Acoustic Engineer : SRL South Africa Occupational Health and Safety : Safetycon Main Contractor : Haw & Inglis
14 Project Watch