June 2013
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
42
Murray & Roberts Buildings
i s o n s c h e d u l e f o r t h e
May 2013 completion of the
Government Communication
and Information System (GCIS)
building in Pretoria. This six-
storey building, located on
the corner of Festival and
Fr anc i s Baa rd ( forme r l y
Schoeman) Streets, is being
developed by Growthpoint
Management Ser vices for
Isivuno Properties (Pty) Limited.
project profile
T
he GCIS team provides professional
services, sets and influences adher-
ence to standards for an effective
government communication system, drives
coherent government messaging and
proactively communicates with the pub-
lic about government policies, plans
programmes and achievements.
The design brief was to provide amodern
office complex on a prominent site located
in the historic precinct of Hatfield, Pretoria.
The architectural teamcomprises ADOArchi-
tects, Urban Concept and Arc Architects, with
tenant installation, space planning analysis,
and interior design and detailing of the inte-
rior by INK Design Lab.
The new building has a 70 by 70 metre
footprint that fits tightly onto the 80 by
80metre site. Owing to the space constraints,
the Murray & Roberts Buildings team has
been making use of the mezzanine area for
laydown purposes.
Construction is based on a conventional
reinforced concrete frame structure. Approval
was obtained to demolish several residences
on the site tomake way for the development
and, following discussions with the Tshwane
Building Heritage Association, it was agreed
that certain aesthetic archways of these
buildings would be incorporated the new
building façade.
These elements determined the base en-
velope design, which is a square blockwith an
internal open atrium that addresses natural
light, ventilation and practical office depth to
accommodate both cellular and open plan
office space, private and secure courtyard
external space, minimised circulation and
visual communication across internal open
space. The ground floor is dedicated to an
auditorium, two boardrooms, an information
resource centre and a press briefing room.
Two of the six office floors features a meet-
ing room that looks out onto Francis Baard
Street. The executive offices are on the fifth
floor, with the top two floors set back to al-
low for rooftop balconies and outdoor space,
effectively articulating the building roofline.
The external skin is a combination of high
performance glazingwithin an ExternalTher-
mal Insulating Composite System (ETICS) that
offers superior weight, malleability, insulation
and facilitates speed of construction.
The eastern façade at street level in-
corporates the brick archways, as well as
a sun protection canopy overhanging the
pedestrian walkway, that continues on the
northern façade. These elements integrate
the development with the urban fabric of the
surrounding area.
The development harnessesWeber Saint-
Gobain ETICS (external thermal insulation
composite system) technology, chosen for
its environmental, operational and safety
advantages. Lesly Harris of Murray & Roberts
Buildings says ETICS technology enabled his
team to significantly reduce the number of
bricks originally required as well as cut down
on the cranage time that would have been
required for the brick and plaster work.
“ETICS has been applied with great suc-
cess at two other Growthpoint developments
—thenewKaya FMbuildingand the Lakeside
Office Park Redevelopment in Centurion,”
he adds.“ETICSmade its debut into the South
African construction arena about four years
ago, but has been used in construction in
other parts of the world for some time. This
innovative system is able to improve the
thermal properties of the building envelope
by a factor 10 or more, creating thermal
comfort for the occupants and allowing for
architectural freedom in façade design. It
also makes a strong contribution to energy
savings in the building.”
Aiming for a 4-Star green
rating
Aiming for a 4-Star green rating, the project
team has incorporated a number of green
building features, aswell as several innovative
New GCIS building in
Pretoria on track
Continued on page 44
