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Did you meet any client resistance when you proposed
this alternative to the more conventional façade system?
They eventually embraced the idea of doing something
different. The commercial realities in terms of what
people expect in a commercial building also tempered
the result. And so we might have had an even more
undulating façade and undulating glass lines in terms of
sill heights and head heights of windows. They became a
bit more standardized in the sense of corporate reality.
Above:
Viridian Double Glazed Units provide generous
rooftop views.
Left:
Rather than crowded by the usual spaghetti
of rooftop services, Katz has condensed these
to the south edge and allowed the landscape/
play area by Botanical Traditions to bloom.
Was the building considered specifically with the
pre-school centre facility in mind as the anchor tenant?
The building was always considered as a primary social
building for the estate – not only a pre-school centre,
but also gymnasiums, pharmacies and other community
services. It’s a smaller footprint than a typical
commercial building and so it was always focused on the
more social functions. Once a business estate reaches a
certain size, it lends itself to other social functions.
Have you incurred any greater costs in striving
for difference?
Well we certainly tried to detail it architecturally in a way
that’s unique and so whilst it’s using all the standard
corporate technologies in terms of precast and glaze
façades, curtain wall systems, it’s the way they’re
articulated and integrated that gives it an improved
sense of being, if you like without any cost penalties.
So, for instance, the way the glass façade’s detached
from the core masonry elements means it floats and
gives it a very articulated response.