Irene Link Building B, with a GFA of 7,359 sqm, is the second building in the 75,000sqm Irene Link Precinct commercial office park in Centurion, which will extend along the N1 Highway up to the Botha Avenue off-ramp, and will include a 15,000sqm retail and lifestyle centre.

Irene Link Building B. Render credit: Nsika-Architecture.

Westend Building D, with a GFA of 6,800sqm, is part of the A-Grade Westend Office Park located in Centurion. The site is within walking distance of the Gautrain station and is close to Centurion Mall, with easy accessibility to highways and major routes.

Westend D. Render credit: MWLF Architects.

“We work hard to deliver everything a corporate tenant needs, from first-rate security to good accessibility and low cost of occupation,” says Hendrik Van Zyl, Regional Director at Abland.

In line with our aim of being fit-for-purpose and future-focused, both buildings are designed to have efficient floor plates with flexible, open plan work environments that accommodate a variety of tenants and allow for ease of churn.

Makhosazana Mthethwa, sustainable building consultant at Solid Green, explains that both buildings incorporate a number of green building principles that are geared towards user wellbeing. She says, “Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has become imperative that the design and management of buildings address users’ health and wellbeing, to mitigate disease and absenteeism and to enhance productivity.”

Irene Link Building B was designed to have its own strong identity and visual impact adjacent to the existing Green Star rated Barloworld Automotive and Logistics building. In keeping with the envisioned architectural language of the precinct, the design employs high performance glazing, off shutter concrete feature elements, textured exterior rendering and aluminium sun screening – contemporary materials that knit the building into its context whilst maintaining a unique architectural identity.

Render credit: Nsika-Architecture.

At Westend Office Park, the concept was a group of buildings that respond to a central design theme, but with each building having its own unique identity. Taking forward a strong diagonal element that was introduced in the precinct’s Building C, Building D’s facades are further articulated with strong, asymmetric geometric forms that allow for an interesting play of solid and void.

Render credit: MWLF Architects.

“Resource efficiency was a key consideration for both Abland and its tenants, and passive energy design and energy efficient mechanical systems were required from the outset,” explains Dash Coville, sustainable building consultant at Solid Green.

Because accurate data is essential to understanding and managing building systems, and to assessing opportunities for resource savings, both projects have sub-metering of major water and energy consuming systems in place.

The buildings make use of water efficient sanitaryware fittings as well as water-wise landscaping and irrigation to support water consumption reduction strategies. In both cases, all lighting used is energy efficient LED; and motion sensors were installed to lighting in common areas. The Irene building also has a thermal energy storage system to reduce the building’s peak energy demand. All paints, adhesives, sealants and carpets have low VOC emissions. And, at the Westend building, an excess of 70% of all building waste generated during construction was recycled or reused. Furthermore, there is space allocated on site for separating and sorting recyclable waste during the building operation.

To encourage activity, Irene Link Building B has an attractive and accessible staircase designed to motivate users to walk rather than using lifts; and Westend has secure bicycle storage for employees and visitors, as well as shower and changing facilities for freshening up.

Both Irene Link Building B and Westend Office Park Building D contribute to driving best-practice principals in the commercial office sector by responding well to their respective contexts, optimising resource efficiency, and offering optimal service provision for users.

PROJECT TEAMS:

Irene Link Building B:

Westend Office Park Building D:

Render credit: MWLF Architects.

The post Fit for Purpose and Future Focused appeared first on Solid Green Consulting.

Zendré Compion, Sustainable Building Consultant at Solid Green says:

Menlyn Maine is dedicated to having all its buildings Green Star certified; and encourages sustainability initiatives that go beyond the green building features that have become a standard part of building practice. In this instance, the collective experience of the architect, contractor and the rest of the professional team – who had all previously worked on several Green Star rated buildings – contributed greatly to achieving the rating.

An important principle that has been incorporated in both this building and the precinct as a whole is that of ‘Beyond the Green Star Office rating’. This includes the adoption of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles. While it is sited on the busy January Masilela Avenue, this building’s entrance is on Mercy Avenue, where the design of the precinct is at a human scale. The building entrance steps straight off the sidewalk instead of being positioned behind multiple barriers. This entrance is slightly elevated, a good ‘designing out crime’ principle, while large shopfronts allow passive surveillance from the reception to the street. There is regular pedestrian traffic past the building as the precinct is quite dense, with numerous offices and a residential tower building across the street.

Compion explains that the building was awarded 10 out of the available 10 Green Star Innovation points. One point was awarded under the tool’s ‘Innovation 1 – Innovative Strategies and Technologies’ credit for making use of a fire suppression gas with a Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 0. Due to there not being a local regulation or standard for phasing out gasses with high GWP in the fire suppression industry, this is substantially contributing to the broader market transformation towards sustainable development in South Africa.

Another point was awarded under ‘Innovation 2 – Exceeding Green Star Benchmarks’, as the building is located within walking distance of more than 8 amenities. An additional 8 points were achieved under ‘Innovation 3 – Environmental Initiatives’ for having achieved the following ambitious targets:

• The project met the Financial Transparency Innovation Challenge by sharing its financial information on the cost of Green Building items compared to standard building costs, and in this way contributed to ongoing research on the cost of green building;
• 10 individuals on the project team have completed the full Green Star Accredited Professional (AP) course or at least the online course;
• The project registered for more than one certification (Design and As Built);
• The installation of Learning Resources, in this case a screen in the building foyer with a live display of the building’s energy and water performance, as well as educational material about the Green Star rating;
• For incorporating materials that have a high recycled content, in this case aluminium window frames with a recycled content value greater than 2% of the contract value. Other strategies regarding construction materials included reducing the cement content in the concrete used by 30%; and the average post-consumer recycled content of reinforcing steel in the building is at least 54% (by mass).

To reduce the possibility of immediate tenant refits, the new office was developed with 100% of the Useable Area as an integrated fit-out. All thermal insulants used for the development have an Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) of zero; and at least 95% of the interior finishes (such as paints, carpets, adhesives and sealants) minimize the contribution of Volatile Organic Compounds.

A number of energy efficiency and environmental initiatives were implemented. These include modelling the building during the design stage, achieving a reduction of 50% in Greenhouse Gas Emissions associated with operational energy consumption compared to a notional building model. Sub-metering and an effective mechanism for monitoring energy consumption were also provided, for ongoing management efficiencies. In addition, light pollution is minimized by ensuring that all light fittings are positioned so that there is no upward light spillage into the night sky.

Compion adds that Menlyn Maine, together with the project team, should be commended for water saving initiatives – including only having cold water supplied to ablutions, waterless urinals, and rainwater flushing in most of the buildings in the precinct. She says:

While some developers are still averse to sustainable initiatives that have management implications, these systems have become standard in this precinct. This is a great precedent and demonstrates the importance of planning, design and management for real sustainability in the built environment.

A Building Users’ Guide was developed to contribute towards optimising operational efficiency by informing relevant parties about how to use the building systems effectively. Recommendations made in the Guide also aim to ensure that all future alterations, additions and program changes are consistent with the intent of the Guide and the health of the environment.

The Guide also provides information on public transport options and routes, to encourage the use of public transport. The development is served by the Gautrain bus service, connecting to the Hatfield Gautrain station. An A Re Yeng bus station is currently being developed on the adjacent Atterbury road, linking to Hatfield and through to the West of the city, and to Mamelodi in the east. The Tshwane bus service and taxis also serve the precinct and its surrounds.

In order to reduce the number of automobile trips by the building occupants, the office development has a well-lit dedicated pedestrian network to adjacent buildings that gives easy access to Menlyn Central Square shopping centre, hotels, a gym, entertainment facilities and restaurants.

The precinct will be occupied both during the day and at night, with the mall, Sun Arena and residential building already attracting evening visitors, while the offices and mall are occupied during the day. These elements contribute to the sustainability and vibrancy of the precinct and bode well for the future.

The post GEMS scores on Innovation appeared first on Solid Green Consulting.