Construction World December 2017

Category D: The AfriSam Innovation Award for Sustainable Construction

ALICE LANE PHASE THREE

(Also entered Category C)

Phase One tenants include Marsh, Bloomberg, Standard Bank and a Virgin Active gym. Phase Two accommodates Sanlam and Santam. Paragon Architects had already designed two of the three buildings around the future piazza, which created a canvas from which to work. Working with generated site line analyses and sun studies the conceptual design chiselled away at the sculptural forms third of three buildings that will complete the enclosure for a much needed lung in Sandton’s shopping precinct. Alice Lane 3 is an office building located on the corner of Alice Lane and Fifth Street in Sandton’s commercial centre. It is designed around an office anchor tenant, but includes showrooms, retail elements, and concept stores on the ground floor which will interact with the piazza. This is the

to generate refined massing and bring sunlight into the public space, essentially using sunlight to chisel form. From the outset, Paragon was aware of the requirement of cellular office space. To ensure that all offices were exposed to natural light, two wings were generated so that external offices and internal offices were equally exposed, thus ensuring that every office is a perimeter office. This building is much higher than Phases One and Two, but a common design language binds the three buildings. Materiality however sets them apart; unitised aluminium panels are the dominant material in Phase One and in Phase Three, it is glass. The glazing is to express the latest glass technology and expression in terms of light and dark and also day and night experiences. The entire precinct is aimed at achieving a Four Star Green Star rating. The volumes of Phase Two are slightly different to Phase Three, in that it accommodates both Sanlam and Santam offices, so two curvaceous forms are separated by an atrium to express both companies, yet link them. Alice Lane 3, or ‘Tall Alice’, was designed with absolute consideration for the end user, in this case Bowmans. Typically, law firms have a higher (cellular) office to floor

plate ratio requirement, in addition to the required density of offices they required views and windows to each unit. So we had to design a sculptural external element that was practical to the client’s internal operation. The ‘H’ shape building thus allows more peripheral space to have views and windows. The ‘H’ shape is pulled together by a dramatic central atrium fed from the two north and south cores. This separation of the two office plated allowed the developer to also subdivide easily and lease individual floors or portions thereof. Four types of glass were used: All flush glazed vision and spandrel panels. Office spandrel panels were back painted, received insulation and in some cases alu- minium pack pans • Flush double glazed vision panel (blue glass) main façade glass cool lite st120 • Flush double glazed vision panel (white glass) Fritted glass (30% ‘dot’ coverage) solar e plus grey solar control low e safety glass 6 mm toughened safety glass with dense white dotted frit to external face. Dots were individually designed and printed on to glass panels, not one panel is alike another. The pattern undulates creating streaks and streams immolating water veins. This effect is particularly visible on a cloudy day when the silvery blue glass reflects the clouds only to be broken by the unsymmetrical composition of the ‘dot runs’, the façade assumes the look of water flowing down if smooth glass face. • Flush double glazed vision panel (external atrium and pod glazing) solar e grey solar control low e. The difference I glass here highlights and visually separates the two office plates or masses. • Flush double glazed vision panel (pod glazing) solar e plus clear solar control low e safety glass, • The retail pods below assume a more fluid geometry than the office plates, this is visually divided in the use of the dark glass in combination to the clear. low e safety glass Highly reflective glass assisting with the thermal performance and internal comfort.

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