70 / 72
DECEMBER • 2016
Construction
WORLD
68
The AfriSam Innovation Award for Sustainable Construction
E
The site had the usual inner city restraints in that there was
very little access to the building to allow full construction works to
proceed without hindrance and that the site was the standard area
size of 250 m
2
. Overall the build process took 15 months
to complete.
The primary focus of the design of the building was centered
on the maximisation of the site parameters and the creation of
large open work spaces for the WWF-SA staff while still allowing
a sense of privacy. The ground floor was given over to a reception
space and a future volume for the use as an off-street facility by
the WWF-SA for the general public wishing to investigate aspects
relating to our planet and the work they do to preserve our futures.
Project information
• Company entering: Alive Architecture
• Client: WWF-SA
• Start date: November 2013
• End date: January 2015
• Main contractor: Guiricich Brothers
Construction
• Architect: Alive Architecture
• Project manager: Bornman & Associates
• Quantity surveyr: Russel Irons &
Associates
• Consulting engineer: HDW Consulting
Engineers
• Project value: R8,5-million
WORLD WIDE FUND FOR WILDLIFE,
SOUTH AFRICA
The building was initially built in 1905 and
it was necessary for the architect to obtain
PHRAG approval – a process which took just
over eight months to complete at which time
Alive Architecture was given the full go-ahead to
proceed with complete site demolition. During the
eight-month PHRAG process, Alive Architecture
changed their design-minds and that of its clients
in that it wished to preserve as much of the
building as possible while giving the façade an
up-to-date modern building that allowed the World
Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA).
The first and second floors were given over to open-plan office
volumes but keeping the workspace numbers down so as to assist
in the human feel of the spaces.
Due to the projected requirements of the client – a building
which showcased the WWF as a serious green entity – the
green features of the building included a waste water treatment
plant, natural ventilation to all offices areas with additional
forced air changes (no air-conditioning is done), double glazed
fenestration, automated blinds and LED lighting linked to a building
management system, the collection of all rainwater, solar geyser
for the shower and kitchen areas, reclaimed/re-used materials
for building and furniture items, no on-site parking, the inclusion
of bicycle racks, main-line gas connection for plug-in heating
units, the exposure of base materials to allow for building thermal
activation and the use of recycled materials for the construction of
the concrete slabs within the building.
The feel that the architect wanted to give the end product on
the façade treatment, was to showcase the various build-stages
of the building over its lifespan. It accordingly removed all the
plasterwork, re-grouted all the brick joints, left the old railway
sleeper lintels in the walling, relocated the required new openings
for the building floors and highlighted them with a plaster band and
keystone detail, and finally threw in some plaster and paint to the
new concrete and brick segments creating a building which clearly
reflects the WWF ethos of re-use and recycle as well as making it
an iconic point within the Braamfontein district.
On 11 November 2015 the building received a 6-Star GBCSA
Design Rating (75 points out of a 100) making it the first
brownfields 6-star rated building in South Africa.
The building has once again become an iconic hotspot within
the Braamfontein district with its unique re-use of materials as
well as the show-casing the original structure which has been
on this site since 1905. The building stands out for its different
aesthetic language compared to its immediate
surrounding buildings and within the business
district as a whole – there is no other building
quit like this one in the entire area and this
aspect makes it a unique talk-piece and
destination pin-point.