34 Strauss Daly Place

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1 PROJECT Strauss Daly Place The brief was to design a contemporary and iconic office building that would attract blue chip tenants and shareholders PHOTOGRAPHY BY KARL BEATH STRAUSS DALY PLACE Ridgeside Office Estate Umhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal PROPERTY DEVELOPERS FWJK Developments ARCHITECTS Elphick Proome Architects QUANTITY SURVEYORS FWJK Quantity Surveyors CONSULTING ENGINEERS: STRUCTURAL Hatch GOBA ELECTRICAL DBA MECHANICAL Spoormaker & Partners Inc FIRE & WET SERVICES WSP Group INTERIOR DESIGNERS Shirley Burrows Interiors Cornwall Interiors MAIN CONTRACTOR Grid Construction Elphick Proome Architects was established in 1989 and has grown to become a leading architectural firm in South Africa. The practice has undertaken landmark projects throughout the country and in ten states across three continents. ARCHITECT S REPORT Brief The brief was to design a contemporary and iconic office building that would attract blue chip tenants and shareholders. The project started as a speculative development that was sold off plan and then developed. Scope of Work The full scope of work was a full architectural service and Principal Agency. The site was formerly a sugarcane field, which had been cleared to form part of an upmarket business office park. Issues Faced Some of the main challenges were the fact that there is a 28m fall across the site, and the development required 581 parking bays. Development Size The Gross Building Area for the development is 35,170m Strauss Daly Place

2 Strauss Daly Place, named after the attorneys who committed to the largest space in the 12,000m 2 office building, was the fifth office block development in this series initiated by FWJK who pioneered the co-development at Cost Method of developing office and industrial properties. Notable Features The most notable features of the building are the random fields applied to all elevations and off shutter concrete plane which forms the floating roof and wraps down the west end of the building at a varied angle to form an enclosing envelope. Environmental Factors and Sustainability Measures The building was to take full advantage of the exposure and the amazing sea views. The panoramic views opportunity was one of the major driving factors that influenced the orientation of the office tower. Strauss Daly Place 35

3 Many sustainable initiatives have been implemented in the design. The building uses LED lighting extensively and the air conditioning for the entire building was consolidated into an efficient single plant. Circulation corridors are naturally ventilated and enclosed with glass louvres to avoid the need for air conditioning and mechanical ventilation. The office spaces have been designed so that there is extensive glazing for natural light and views. Performance glazing has been used throughout, together with perforated aluminium and projecting balcony sunscreens which filter the hot UV light, helping reduce the heat gain. Efficient low flush toilets have been used throughout the building to reduce water consumption. Challenges There were several challenges encountered during the project. The five-storey basement presented significant challenges at the outset of the project. The logistics of digging a hole that deep required a great deal of coordination. Building at the height designed also proved challenging at times and the coordination of the trades on the external envelopes required careful thought and exacting implementation. Conclusion Looking back at the completed project, it has been a great success. Project started on site in March 2011 Practical Completion in March 2013 Contract value R100m QUANTITY SURVEYORS REPORT Ridgeside Office Estate, Umhlanga is fast becoming the Sandton of Durban, says Dave Williams-Jones, CEO of FWJK Developments. The company has developed six sectional title office blocks at Ridgeside and one in the centre 36 Strauss Daly Place

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5 The office tower is separated from the 4 storey parking base by means of a double volume open undercroft, into which is slid an office pod at the one end with the cafe and entertainment deck on top of Cape Town over the last four years with a total rentable area of 42,000m². Strauss Daly Place, named after the attorneys who committed to the largest space in the 12,000m 2 office building, was the fifth office block development in this series initiated by FWJK who pioneered the co-development at Cost Method of developing office and industrial properties. He added... we cut out the middleman in the development process and offer a fee-driven alternative solution to traditional sectional title property developers who add upwards of 20% profit onto cost on sectional title developments which results in our developments coming in at least 20% below market prices, providing purchasers with embedded value and a bankable product. The brief given to Elphick Proome Architects (EPA) by FWJK for this 11,500m² office block, known as Strauss Daly Place, was to provide total flexibility in terms of floor plate layout as well as elevational flexibility in terms of balconies provided to each office. At concept stage, the status of the sales uptake was not known and FWJK had to ensure that it was able to offer prospective purchasers any office suite size above 130m², but each with its own balcony of varying proportions, which has been well interpreted by EPA in the final product. STRUCTURAL / CIVIL ENGINEER S COMMENT Hatch Goba provided the Civil and Structural Engineering services for Ridge 5 Office Development. 38 Strauss Daly Place

6 Description Ridge 5, known as Strauss Daly Place, is a new office development in the prestigious Ridgeside Office Park in Umhlanga, KwaZulu Natal. The building comprises four levels of basement parking, one level of open parking and eight levels of office accommodation with a concrete roof slab. The total Gross Building Area is 35,000m², with approximately 10,000m 2 of this being lettable office space. The building is designed as a reinforced concrete frame with post tensioned slabs, and is supported on piled foundations. Pile diameters vary between 300mm and 750mm diameter. An unusual feature of the building is the raking off-shutter concrete wall to the south-west elevation, with cantilever balconies projecting from the face of the wall. Due to the tight space constraints on the site, anchored contiguous piled walls were utilised to form the basement levels, in addition to conventional reinforced concrete retaining walls. The process of excavating for the basement had to run hand-in-hand with installation of gunite facing to the contiguous piled walls, which resulted in a very complicated earthworks operation. Scope of Services Hatch Goba (formerly Goba) were appointed by Chanter Properties to carry out the civil and structural design for the new office block. Hatch Goba were able to provide an efficient structural solution on a very restricted site which came in on budget and within the tight development timeframes. The building comprises four levels of basement parking, one level of open parking and eight levels of office accommodation with a concrete roof slab ADVERTISERS ON THIS PROJECT: Corobrik Manufacturer and distributor of clay bricks and clay pavers Elphick Proome Architects Architects FWJK Quantity Surveyors Quantity Surveyors Grid Construction Main Contractor Hatch Goba Consulting Engineers and Project Managers Shirley Burrows Interiors Interior Design Consultant Spoormaker & Partners Inc Consulting Mechanical & Electrical Engineers WSP Group Africa Consulting Multi- Disciplinary Engineers Strauss Daly Place 39