December 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
30
Building Contractors
A
2
T
he 32 storey, 139 metre high Portside building, a joint venture
between Old Mutual and FirstRand Bank Limited, has rapidly
ascended to take on its rightful status as Cape Town’s tallest
building. Once complete in the first quarter of 2014, it will attest to
some of themost innovative building techniques in today’s construc-
tion industry. The co-developers for this prestigious project are Eris
Property Group and Old Mutual Property.
Portside was jointly designed by DHK and Louis Karol Architects
who have created an iconic skyscraper that salutes the CBD’s histori-
cal character, but also points definitively to the future development
of Cape Town’s Foreshore. With a footprint that occupies an entire
city block in the Foreshore’s emerging financial district, Portside
incorporates more than 52 000 m
2
of office space, 1 200 m
2
of retail
and banking space accessible from all sides on the ground level and
1 382 parking bays. Tasked with a fast track construction period of
only 26 months, the Murray & RobertsWestern Cape Portside project
teamgained a competitive edge by paying intense attention to detail
in the planning stages.
Among Murray & Roberts Western Cape’s innovative construc-
tion approaches was to cast the slabs independently of the cores
by introducing a construction joint around the cores during initial
construction up to the 14
th
level, from which the office tower would
be launched. This meant the decks were not immediately connected
to the advancing cores and the infill slabs were only cast later as the
trailing platforms progressed with the climbing cores. Because of the
height of the core trailing platforms and hydraulic climbing systems,
the initial five core casts were carried out conventionally.
Portside
Portside has achieved a 5 Green Star SA Office v1 Design rating cer-
tification from the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA)
making it one of the most environmentally sustainable buildings to
date in South Africa, and will also be submitting for an As Built rating.
Yet another South African first is among the green design features
– the building has been designed to use 45% less energy than a
notional building designed to SANS 204 standards. With a super-
efficient electrical lighting system, Portside will become the first
building in South Africa where the entire building, including office
space, is fitted with LED lighting.
This is the first major project to be awarded in CapeTown since the
CapeTown Stadiumwas awarded in 2007 for the FIFA 2010World Cup.
This archetypal building, at the gateway to the CapeTownCBD, will
accommodate two stand-alone self-contained tenants with separate
entrances, independent dedicated lift shafts and independent service
centres for power andmechanical ventilation.The overall construction
period allowed only 26 months for the main construction contract,
including allowance for the vagaries of Cape winters. The structure
topped out in May 2013, only two weeks behind the original pro-
gramme, notwithstanding significant weather delays.
The Portside project created direct employment opportunities for
about 1 500 people during its construction phase.
WINNER
Also entered category E
