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New Sasol building to embody logo – architects

14th January 2015

By: Megan van Wyngaardt

Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

  

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South African multinational chemicals group Sasol’s new corporate office at 2 Katherine street, Sandton, has been designed to resemble the company’s logo – depicting coalescing molecules - architecture firm Paragon Architects noted on Wednesday.

The ten-storey office building, which would span almost 70 000 m2, would consolidate the company’s current office space across 17 buildings, in Johannesburg, into a single location, serving as offices for up 7 000 people. Inside, the building would host restaurants, canteens, art galleries, coffee shops and an iconic Sasol One Stop Shop.

The building, which was scheduled for completion in 2016, would also comprise over 2 000 panels of floor-to-ceiling unitised double-glazed panels of vision glass and spandrels. The shapes and glass variations would be encapsulated in each panel.

“The building comprised a central sphere denoting stability, while six rotating spheres representing the ‘business units’ suggested a force greater than the sum of its parts – strength through synergy,” Paragon added.

Sasol’s company structure was used as the departure point for the conceptual design of the building. The concept was initially set up as a straight line linking the various units. “However, this was seen as too constrictive spatially and so the form evolved into something more serpentine,” Paragon pointed out.

A central core of work activities would tie the building together, while various areas would be linked by a series of bridges. The major challenge was the site on which the building stands – a curving edge of Katherine Street.

“It was important for Paragon to push boundaries in this design, which is characterised by light volumes externally and two dramatic skylights (articulated with acoustic baffles) internally. These elements create a feeling of airy spaces and allow as much natural light into the structure as possible,” the company added.

The result would be an external façade of reflective performance glass, which would have a highlight transmission level, increasing visibility out of the building, while maintaining a high comfort level. The development hoped to achieve a five-star Green Building Council of South Africa Green Star rating in the design and as built categories.
 
Meanwhile, the park-like staff facilities would include courtyards and braai and yoga facilities with water-wise planted areas. “Sasol is committed to supporting birdlife in South Africa and this will be accommodated by providing an indigenous environment for birds,” Paragon noted.

The landscaping has been designed to shade the façade, where heat gain is higher. On lower levels planting would be thicker.

DESIGN PROCESS
“Considering the complexity of this building, building information modeling technology and software solutions provider Autodesk’s design software Revit modeling contributed towards streamlining the coordination process and allowed all 15 consultants to interact with one three-dimensional model,” Paragon project architect Tershia Habbitts said.

“This not only made it easier to work together, but we avoided wasting time and building materials. The team at Paragon Architects is steaming ahead on Revit and Autodesk Navisworks. This is proving to be extremely successful with the coordination between consultants,” she added.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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