that are typical of the time , particularly in Cape Town . This includes the reinforced concrete frame , the aluminium windows expressed vertically , enamelled-steel spandrel panels , and especially the in-situ brushed terrazzo wall panels . The intention was to retain and restore all of these characteristic façade elements where possible .
New Design The existing linear modernist buildings have been redeveloped by creating a glass and steel box linking the two existing buildings . This acts as a bridge as well as a window through the building allowing natural light and offering uninterrupted views of Table Mountain and Table Bay . The new access component could also be considered a ‘ heritage gateway ’ through to the historical ruins of the old fort at the rear .
The existing 1960 ’ s façades have been retained almost intact , other than the removal and replacement of the original multi-paned aluminium windows frames with new energy efficient and sound dampening double glazed single paned units .
This new element acts as the new entrance to the building and opens the building to the public streetscape which had been lacking in the earlier design . The new linking element has enabled new elevators to be added and the obsolete elevator shafts at the rear of the building have been repurposed to house the HVAC and electrical services . Moving all access to the centre of the building has allowed for the ability to easily allow multiple tenancies to the left and right on each floor in the future .
St Johns Ambulance , which has been part of the building for over twenty years , has been welcomed back to their completely refurbished offices on the ground floor .
One of the briefs to the architects was to achieve a specific amount of floorspace which the original footprint of the two buildings was not able to accommodate . As the existing buildings were only able to take a certain load , which had to be taken into account when adding on additional floors , the two new floors were added to the top of the building using steel construction . This allowed
46 Tramway House