A Shaded Heart for Omni Square
Best Deck composite wood shapes the pergolas, seating and façades that give the precinct’ s dining terraces their warmth.
Every retail precinct needs a place where people stop moving. At Omni Square, that place sits beneath the pergolas that shelter the dining terraces at the heart of the development. They are what the eye settles on from the parking areas and they do the silent work of turning a walkway into somewhere worth staying.
The design intent was warmth. Hard surfaces dominate any new commercial development and the pergolas were conceived as the counterweight. A run of timber-toned beams overhead softens the light, breaks the scale of the buildings behind and gives the terraces the character of a shaded courtyard rather than a covered walkway. Matching cladding carries the same stylish tone through the seating areas and onto the façades.
Timber would have delivered that warmth on day one. It would not have maintained it over time. A public terrace is a demanding setting for natural wood, exposed to full sun, seasonal downpours and constant use. The maintenance regime that keeps timber looking good is difficult to run in a busy, trading retail centre. Sanding, sealing and oiling mean closed sections, access
equipment and disruption at intervals no landlord welcomes.
Best Deck composite wood was specified instead. It looks like wood and features the same grain and depth of colour, but it keeps that colour under sustained sun and asks for nothing beyond routine cleaning. It does not splinter, warp or need treating, which matters where the public sits directly beneath and alongside it.
Installation was planned around the precinct rather than the other way round. The pergolas were erected inside a short, contained window, with the cladding to the seating areas and façades following. The terraces returned to use with minimal interruption to the businesses trading around them. On a live commercial site, programme certainty is worth close to as much as the finished product.
The result is an architectural outdoor environment that should look much the same in a decade as it does today, backed by guarantees of up to 25 years depending on the product and profile selected.
Best Deck supplies and installs composite wood decking, cladding, pergolas, screen walling and balustrades nationally. www. bestdeck. co. za
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