pedestrian entrance will be more understood later as the precinct develops circulation to the Waterfront . The cladding on the façade is a dark grey , large format , scratch resistant ceramic cladding tile from Turkey that is so hard that it is also specified for use as kitchen counter tops . The battleship grey colour of this cladding gives the building that secure corporate banking aesthetic .
The interior reflects upon the regional status of the Free State building and is inspired by the natural materials and palette colours of the bushveld . The overall interior design carries through various local and commercial environmental themes such as agriculture , mining , transport and sandstone ‘ koppies ’.
Bomax designed the atrium chandelier and had it made in Cape Town . Dion comments ; “ I love the edgy deconstructed mood the chandelier creates against the ordered interior façades . Like ‘ shards of glass ’ the chandelier creates tension in the space , not foreign to a corporate environment - it is sculptural and designed to fill the volume with a feeling .” Apart from the numerous informal meeting areas , rooms and ‘ scrum areas ’, the building boasts a state-of-theart conference room , equipped with the latest video conferencing technology , a restaurant for employees and a rooftop recreational area with expansive views over the city .
Sustainability The building employs various eco-friendly features . The atrium is designed to maximise natural light with a new acrylic sheeting product instead of glass that achieves both the required heat gain and insulation values . A 100KWp photo voltaic solar system is designed for the rooftop that generates 170MWh of power per annum . This takes advantage of the cloudless sunny days in Bloemfontein .
The West sun does become extreme so the architects designed the west façade with less glazing and more cladding . This cladding is ventilated on a frame away from the building which prevents heat gain to the interior . The glass used is Low Emissivity coated to prevent heat loss in winter and tinted grey to prevent heat gain in summer .
A 20,000 litre portable water storage tank provides two days worth of water backup . The site also has a borehole , which is used for the irrigation of plants and lawns . Generators provide back up power to the building for five days utilising a fuel supply housed on site .
398 First Place