CITY OF CAPE TOWN
WATER & SANITATION
DEPARTMENT OF WATER & SANITATION Cape Town
CLIENT City of Cape Town
PROJECT MANAGERS Van Zyl & Associates Goal Zero Green Building
ARCHITECTS IN ASSOCIATION EHH Architects Inc DK Architects
QUANTITY SURVEYOR Annalie Blokker - LWA Quantity Surveyors
CIVIL , STRUCTURAL , MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL ENGINEER iX Engineers
GREEN BUILDING CONSULTANT Goal Zero Green Building
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT OVP Associates
HEALTH & SAFETY CONSULTANT Solid State Group
MAIN CONTRACTOR Group Five
PHOTOGRAPHY Adam Letch Wianelle Briers
The new head office for the City of Cape Town ’ s Water and Sanitation Department was derived from the need to consolidate various departments throughout the city into a single use building . Located on the corner of Mike Pienaar and Voortrekker Road in Bellville , the building has become a new landmark on the busy intersection and aims to act as a catalyst for future urban development along Voortrekker Road .
Brief With various branches of the Department of Water & Sanitation located throughout the city , the brief was to consolidate the management of the various branches into one central location . While each branch generally works independently , having all branches under one roof will encourage communication and stimulate inter-departmental cooperation . This required considerable space and the concept of the design was to create a uniform building which allows each department to keep their individual spaces whilst forming part of the bigger organisation with better integration and proximity .
The Design From the outset , the design was to reinforce the infinite life cycle of water with the design of an interconnected water collection point , feature and filtration system that connects the interior and exterior of the building which both users and visitors to the building get to experience . This theme of ‘ flow ’ was carried through to the exterior façade , signifying both the use of the building and acknowledgement of context on such a busy intersection with the ‘ flow of people cars ’. The interior design is a continuation of the concept and allows the various departments and ancillary facilities to flow into one another by means of an open-plan office layout with centralised circulation spaces .
The considerable amount of space required resulted in a large building footprint which was split into two main forms separated by a glass enclosed atrium
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