As the private residence is positioned on the upper northern portion of the site , the obvious location for the new offices was on the lower portion , in the vicinity of the dam . The position around the dam also affords the new more public buildings a direct relationship with the access road and vehicle entrance , while the private residence is further privatised by an off-shutter concrete screen wall fitted with concrete gates .
Architectural Concept The architect ’ s most intuitive and immediate decision was to create an obvious distinction between the two buildings , both in their forms and through their relationship with the ground and water of the dam .
The first building – the building that houses the majority of the staff – was to be the pragmatic
one , rectilinear , bold and efficient , but one that defied conventions . The offices are located one storey up , harnessing the view of the dam to the north and the Bronberge mountains to the southwest . The suspended offices are anchored by a triple volume entrance foyer and , on the opposite end , by an off-shutter concrete blade wall , through which the office wing pierces .
The entrance foyer is a thick-walled cube – a ‘ server ’ to the building - punctured only with slit windows , but glazed from top to bottom on its eastern entrance wall , as if the concrete blade wall in the distance was disconnected from it and displaced by the piercing wing . The Chief QS ’ s office is positioned on the section of ‘ wing ’ that cantilevers off the wall .
Inside the foyer , an 11m high off-shutter concrete wall serves as the backdrop to a project
Clear Choice 471