LiD
08-09/14
R
edefine Properties intended to make a
statement with 90 Grayston. According
to Mike Ruttell, the company’s Executive
Development Director, the iconic sustainable
development represents the first of a number of
future property development solutions that will
showcase Redefine’s vision concerning office
design and functionality.
“Although a green building does require more
investment initially, the advantage is that it offers
lower operating costs in the long term and also
results in healthier buildings and healthier employ-
ees,” says Pillay.
He explains that the building’s IT infrastructure
is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and a
‘scalable’ solution that allows tenants to ‘plug and
play’ to various service providers. The building’s
air conditioning operates on a chilled water sys-
tem with an air-handling unit on each office floor.
Tenants are guided by a tenant criteria document,
which aligns itself with base allowances in terms
of electricity provisions, water, air conditioning,
etc and everything is metered and run back on a
building management system for trending. The
tenants are also given guidelines for light fittings,
light levels and lamps and the offices are fitted with
T5 double parabolic fittings, 3 x 14 W. The lighting
power density for 95% of the office useable area
is less than 2 W/m
2
per 100 lux at 720 mm AFFL
with a default maintenance factor of 0.8.
The façade side of the building is narrow and
GLH and Associates Architects chose a ‘box in, box
out’ look to optimise the amount of light coming
into the building during day time. The double glass
façade starts on the northern elevation and wraps
around the sides of the building. Illuminating a
double skin façade with inverted blinds whilst creat-
ing an effect at night, was a challenge, especially
since, being a green building there could be no light
pollution and the installation had to be impressive
enough to make a statement in a neighbourhood
of impressive structures.
The solution, according to Pillay, came about
after much discussion within the professional team
and, in the end; it was the unusual façade itself
that provided the answer. “The boxes, says Pillay,
“make a striking frontage and it is this that we took
advantage of when it came to the exterior lighting”.
Freddie Piek of Giantlight was sent a picture of
the building with the boxes illuminated in different
colours and asked, “Can you do this?”The company
could, and subsequent to testing a number of op-
tions using one of the window boxes on the building
for mock-ups, the decision was taken by the client
to animate the entire façade, which would allow
the installation to be used to advantage for special
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