completed building , there is a long path to walk . It is much easier to draw something than it is to build it . In the end , the building of an unusual formal or spatial concept takes real willing people , a deep range of skills , acceptance of risk , and craft .
At a first meeting at Paragon Architects ’ offices , a physical model of the building was presented to the developer ’ s construction managers . A simple discussion ensued :
Construction Manager 1 : ‘ Jissus , hoe gaan ons hierdie ding bou ? Dis onmoontlik !’ ( Jeez , how are we going to build this thing ? It ’ s impossible !)
Construction Manager 2 : ‘ Nee , man , dis maklik . ‘ n Gebuigde muur is net soos ‘ n straight muur , jy buig hom net ’. ( No , man , it ’ s easy . A bent wall is just like a straight wall , you just bend it .)
And of course , it was not that easy , it was in fact quite difficult . But it was in this spirit of co-operation and willingness that this unusual building was put together .
THIRD FLOOR
KEY TO PLANS
GROUND FLOOR : 1 . Circulation 2 . Offices 3 . Entrance Lobby 4 . Ablutions 5 . Surface Parking 6 . Lifts
FIRST FLOOR : 1 . Circulation 2 . Offices 3 . Triple Volume / Main Atrium
4 . Ablutions 5 . Lifts
GROUND FLOOR : 1 . Circulation 2 . Offices 3 . Triple Volume / Main Atrium
4 . Ablutions 5 . Balcony 6 . Lifts 7 . Planting
Recession as a Context We all know the bad sides of the current ongoing recession for the building and design industries . The good sides are the fact that the best people with the best skills remain available , and that in fact they have a bit more time on their hands . Developers and contractors want to keep their good skills and people , and this creates a unique willingness for the unusual and the difficult . While the risk profile of everyone is higher , and the market is more competitive , the value of innovation is also higher . It is more important to create differential value , and to stand apart from the usual market offering . We consider the recession to have had a definite and positive influence on this building ’ s design and construction , as it has on other buildings that we have been lucky enough to have had to complete during the same period .
From developer client to the tenant , from the building team across the professional disciplines , we as architects enjoyed the support of a team in which everyone , for their own and sometimes very different reasons , took on extraordinary risk and unusual effort in order to create a building that surely has no match in South Africa yet .
Working on the team was a Brazilian contingent from Belo Horizonte , where our Brazilian office of Paragon Arquitetura is located . And we believe that we have , in our own limited way , found a connection to a valid and important architectural tradition that should be part of Tshwane as much as it was part of Pretoria in the heroic days of Brasilia .
FIRST FLOOR
GROUND FLOOR
Afgri 117