SASFA

SASFA

SUPPLEMENT

2017

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.”