SASFA
SUPPLEMENT
2017
26
EXCELLENCE
The Steel Awards 2012 judges broke with tradition and
combined the historically distinct ‘Architectural’ and ‘Light
Steel Frame Building’ (LSFB) categories, presenting the
combined award to the Boogertman + Partners Architects-
designed Deloitte Head Office, which is situated at the
Riverwalk Office Park in Pretoria.
The unprecedented move was motivated by the unique
qualities of the building, which unites excellence in the use
of architecturally exposed steel with cutting-edge applic-
ation of the Light Steel Frame Building (LSFB) method
in commercial buildings.
Judge Lemaseya Khama, representing the South African
Institute of Architects, said that “having understood the
material makeup of the envelope” the judges’ particular
interest was to “see how it stood up to its application.
The product outcome is one of high quality.
“The design details were simple yet achieved complex and
pleasing forms, while the detail resolution belies a concerted
DELOITTE HEAD OFFICE
team effort. With the knowledge that the LSFB product is
relatively new in South Africa, this is laudable.”
The site of this development slopes severely from
west to east, where it connects to the Wolwespruit River,
which separates it from the existing three office buildings in
the complex.
“The fact that this year a LSFB project has reached the point
of excellence where it can also be an ‘Architectural’ category
winner, sends a very strong message about the LSFB industry
and how much it has developed in this country,” the project
team said.
The eye-catching deep-orange exterior was achieved
using 60 mm-thick EPS (expanded polystyrene) lightweight
cladding, fixed to a light steel framework which is bolted to the
reinforced concrete structure.
These façades, which simply could not have been built
with more conventional building methods, ensure excellent
insulation, providing comfortable temperatures all year round
and so reduce the demand on air-conditioning for cooling in
summer and heating in winter.
“What has been left in the minds of the judging panel,”
concluded Khama,“is the extraordinary potential of this system
to be used in a highly aesthetic, all-steel superstructure, with
all the attendant benefits of precision and time-saving, not to
mention the environmental considerations.”
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