ELECTRICITY HOUSE
ELECTRICITY HOUSE Cape Town
CLIENT City of Cape Town
PROJECT MANAGER Alwyn Laubscher & Associates
ARCHITECT Ebesa Architects
HERITAGE ARCHITECT Arcon
QUANTITY SURVEYOR Narker & Associates
STRUCTURAL , CIVIL , MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS NWE Consulting Engineers
COMMISSIONING AGENT SEM Solutions
FAÇADE ENGINEER Integrate Consulting Engineers
ACOUSTIC ENGINEER SRL South Africa
GREEN BUILDING CONSULTANT Sillito Environmental Consulting
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS ARG Design
GREEN BUILDING ENERGY MODELLING Green Plan
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MONITORING ACO Associates
MAIN CONTRACTOR Group Five Coastal Western Cape
PHOTOGRAPHY - INTERIOR & EXTERIORS Inspiral Design
PHOTOGRAPHY - AERIALS SkyPixels Photography & Video Productions
The brief from the client , the City of Cape Town , to Ebesa Architects was to design a depot and office building for the Electricity Department to service the electrical needs of the City Centre . The previous depot building was going to be redeveloped and they needed to move . The Electricity Department owned the land and buildings that were to become the new site for the building . The building needed to accommodate around 200 staff , both office staff as well as field workers . The building had to be functional and practical for the movement of trucks , vehicles , office workers and field workers . The building also had to be a green building in line with the City of Cape Town ’ s drive towards more sustainable buildings .
Concept and Planning The concept of the building was largely driven by its functional requirements as well as the Green Building requirements . The building took a lot of planning as the architects had to accommodate a number of different departments within the building . There was also the demolition of an existing building that had to be considered as well as excavation and foundation restraints on such a confined site . Each floor had a very specific function and very specific circulation routes had to be co-ordinated .
The buildings functionality and Green technology in many ways took centre stage in the planning as there are quite a few different plant and engineering facilities being accommodated .
The two main architectural features are the striking white composite aluminium screen walls and the vertical green garden on Buitengracht Street
602 Electricity House