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P eerutin Architects were commissioned by ETV in early 2011 to explore the development potential of a recently acquired 6,675m2 site in the Gardens area of Cape Town, in close proximity to Roeland Street and Parliament.

ARCHITECT’S REPORTETV is a rapidly growing, free-to-air television station nationwide and, therefore, central to the brief for the feasibility study, was the requirement to relocate and house the station’s Cape Town operations at movein and to accommodate their needs well into the future.

ETV was housed, from its inception, in the historic landmark building known as Longkloof Studios in the Gardens area. In the years since inception, ETV had enjoyed exponential growth within the walls of Longkloof but were rapidly outgrowing their available space. Technology had also made significant advances over the years and it was becoming clear that new, bespoke and state-of-the-art premises were becoming necessary to ensure the station’s continued growth and relevance in the approaching digital era.

In addition, the proposals needed to make room for multiple tenancies as well as a possible phased construction sequencing. The site was, therefore, divided into two distinct phases. While Planning Permission has been granted for both phases, only Phase 1 has been completed to date, while Phase 2 is under consideration for a possible start on site in early 2016.

To facilitate this process, a highly experienced professional team was assembled that included Project Managers SIP, Peerutin Architects, Tommy Brummer Town Planners, Henry Fagan Engineers and Sutherland Engineers among others, capably directed by the ETV management duo of Marcel Golding and Bronwyn Keane-Young.

SiteErf 6315, Cape Town, is an L-shaped, 6,675m2 brownfield site in the Upper Gardens area, on the fringes of the Cape Town CBD. It is bordered by Roeland Street, De Villiers Street and Stirling Street. Historically, the land was fully occupied by light commercial buildings typical of the earlier character of the region. The change in usage from industrial to commercial has resulted in a gentrification of use in keeping with similar developments in the area such as nearby Wembley Square. The site is accessed from all three streets and, from its elevated position, enjoys sweeping views across the city in all directions and back to Table Mountain in the south-east.

Design ConceptEarly design discussions quickly highlighted the notion that ‘growing up’ in the raw, industrial character of the Longkloof building had a significant influence on the collective psyche of the ETV management and staff. While earlier design explorations tested lighter, cleaner and more contemporary expressions of commercial architecture, with full height, full width glazing to capture light and views across the city, it was ultimately agreed that design proposals should reflect the station’s nostalgic origins, though reinvented and reinterpreted.

ETV HEAD OFFICECape town

CLIENT/DEVELOPERetV sabido Properties ARCHITECTSPeerutin ArchitectsPROJECT MANAGERSsIP Project ManagersQUANTITY SURVEYORSLDM Quantity surveyorsSTRUCTURAL ENGINEERSHenry Fagan & PartnersCIVIL ENGINEERSBVI Consulting engineersELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC SERVICESRWPMECHANICAL/WET SERVICES/RATIONAL FIRE DESIGNsutherland engineersGEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER & ENGINEERING M van Wieringen Consulting Geotechnical engineers and engineering GeologistsLIFT CONSULTANTsutherland engineersENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTsillito environmental ConsultingHEALTH & SAFETY CONSULTANTFrontline Health & safety &environmental ConsultantsACOUSTIC CONSULTANTsRL south AfricaHERITAGE CONSULTANTAshley LillieTRAFFIC CONSULTANTAureconSECURITY CONSULTANTMartin Peterson & AssociatesTOWN PLANNERtommy Brümmer & AssociatesLAND SURVEYORtrevor stander Professional Land surveyorsMAIN CONTRACTORMurray & RobertsPHOTOGRAPHYFiona Barclay-smith

ETVHEAD OFFICE

PROJECT FEATURE

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In the commercial realm, it is often the case that the overall building form is derived from a predetermined maximum allowable development envelope as defined by the Town Planning regulations, as it was in this case.

Having achieved the commercial target of financial feasibility in the built form, it is in the materials palette that the architects were able to find expression for that nostalgia by creating an environment reminiscent of the tactile quality of space that defined ETV’s roots.

The materials palette therefore, included off-shutter concrete, Table Mountain Granite stonework, facebrick, steel, glass and aluminium

fenestration and a lightweight roof clad in Rheinzink. Each material was carefully chosen for its relevance, locale and character in the overall composition.

As an added challenge, the brief was extended to meet the criteria for a 4-star rated building as defined by the Green Building Council of South Africa. Materials and technologies had to conform to these standards. The overall composition is a well-defined hierarchical stacking of layers vertically, with each layer clearly expressing the accommodation structure within the building.

Internally, the theme of nostalgia and reminiscence of ETV industrial origins is continued, though more subtly, in the expressions of painted bagged brick, raw concrete ceilings and exposed servicing where possible. A blend of sophisticated, sleek materials with the robust, industrial components, make an interesting bridge between the humble, rooted beginnings and the anticipated hi-tech future of the station.

MassingPhase 1 at Roeland Park is a 32,000m2 (GCA) building that includes 4No. Basement parking levels - (15,000m2) and 7No. above-ground accommodation levels (17,000m2).

Broadly defined, the base of the building, as it meets the surrounding streets, is clad in the rich, dark layers of Table Mountain stone. The bulk of the office accommodation ‘floats’ in a brick-clad box spanning the length and width of the footprint, separated from the solid base by a layer of glass that encloses the communal facilities such as the canteen and the 3-story

Broadly defined, the base of the building, as it meets the surrounding streets, is clad in the rich, dark layers of Table Mountain stone

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high glazed entrance atrium that fronts onto the busy De Villers Street.

While the building generally represents an interpretation of its earlier more traditional industrial cousins as a robust enclosed box form, the architects wanted to offer something back to the street. This takes the form of the triple volume, glazed entrance atrium. Here, instead of continuing the solid stone base around to the front of the building, it returns before the edge of the building and continues under the bulk structure, defining a portion of the lower level as part of the streetscape. As it penetrates this area, it diminishes in height to reveal some of the inner workings of the ETV operations.

Security, reception and the communal canteen areas can all be seen in the atrium from within. Enclosing this atrium in glass allows the viewer to engage the building from the outside and, thus, the very front door to the ‘people’s favourite TV station’ becomes an interactive part of the environment it occupies.

At the very top level, the architects have introduced a more playful element in the cranked form of the floating Rheinzink roof. Enjoying the best 360° views, the 6th floor is fully glazed all round and is setback to allow the roof to float above the massing below. The center of the roof form is eroded and lowered to accommodate the station’s satellite dishes that remain concealed from view but retain their required lines-of-sight to the source of the digital signals.

Intended as a contemporary expression of the more traditional roof forms, the folded shapes mimic the undulations of the iconic white cloud ‘table cloth’ over the majestic mountain

which forms the backdrop to this building and has become a recognisable symbol of the building itself.

PlanningThe building has 4 basement parking floors below ground level and can accommodate over 500 cars. The uppermost parking level, accessed from Strerling Street, contains all visitors parking, and is contiguous with the ground floor security zone and entrance foyer.

The public entrance to the triple volume entrance foyer is on De Villiers Street enclosed with a 12m high flush glazed curtain-wall. Visitors

Enclosing the atrium in glass allows the viewer to engage the building from the outside

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pass security on street level and then travel one floor up to the main building’s reception area.

This floor also houses the strategically positioned newsroom, close to reception and with direct access to the studios and the outside. The news department and the centrally placed state-of-the-art studios, form the backbone to the entire ETV operation. This floor, together with the ground floor, form the stone-clad solid podium of the building,

All of the administrative and office functions are housed over floors 2-5 and are planned to accommodate ETV staff requirements well into the future. Each floor is designed along a planning principle the architects have dubbed the ‘racetrack’. This is a ring of circulation and exposed services reticulation that provides a consistent, strong organisational diagram that allows for multiple variations and adaptations, as needs change, of similar floors while providing easy access and legibility to a complex arrangement of services and data reticulations.

The intermediate floor, between the podium and the office floors, houses the staff canteen and data centre. The 6th floor is a glass enclosed box with the asymmetrically cranked roof. This floor was designed as a separate commercial tenancy.

Interior Fit-outIn addition to the building design, Peerutin was commissioned to design and procure the complete interior package including ceilings, partitioning, doors, data and services reticulation as well as FF&E.

Extensive management and user-interface workshops were held over several months while

detailed space planning was carried out to final agreement to facilitate a seamless integration of base building concerns with complex spatial and technical interior fit-out resolution requirements.

As a point-of-departure for the visual design, separate colours were assigned to different floors. While the background palette remained neutral in tones of grey, black and white across all floors, it served to offset the vivid colour swatches, carefully orchestrated in key positions on all floors, and to highlight the particular floor’s layout. These colours were not restricted to a single hue of each colour, but rather, explored subtle variations in hue and tone to add depth and visual interest.

All furniture was procured and/or manu-factured locally.

Architectural, Engineering,Construction ChallengesThe building’s four TV studios form the heart of the client’s brief. The technical requirements that the studios had to adhere to posed a number of unique construction challenges. The two main requirements were flat floors to facilitate smooth rolling of the TV cameras and it had to be insulated from external sound and vibration.

To limit sound and other vibrations leaking into the studios they had to be constructed as free-floating boxes within the main structural box. The only points of contact between the main structure and the studio boxes are via specialist vibration dampening pads. Further complicating this construction was the fact that the doors into the two main studios needed to be 4m high to facilitate access for sets whilst still maintaining acoustic integrity.

The public entrance to the triple volume entrance foyer is on De Villiers Street enclosed with a 12m high flush glazed curtain-wall

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SERVICESElectricalRoeland Park has a medium voltage 11kV electricity supply from the City of Cape Town Electricity Department. The 24/7/365 requirements for the transmission facilities necessitated that all power for Roeland Park is

backed up by diesel fuelled standby generators which automatically switch in when there is a power failure.

The generator sets have a 14,000 litre diesel tank to make sure that there is always sufficient reserve supply – this should last between 2 and 4 days in the case of a blackout.

In addition to the building design, Peerutin was commissioned to design and procure the complete interior package

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Sustainable ElementsThe design of the building answers to a responsible urban design approach and was designed to achieve a 4 star Green star rating. Great care was taken with all aspects of the design and detailing of the building to achieve this.

PROJECT MANAGER’S COMMENTSIP was appointed on the project effective from the beginning of May 2012. At the time, the project had been broadly conceptualised by the architects in response to the brief provided by ETV. The concept was considered in relation to the town planning requirements and permissible departures for the site and other legislated requirements including heritage.

The initial challenge was to develop an overall programme based on a risk analysis to enable commencement of the construction of the project at the earliest possible time due to the need to demolish existing tenanted buildings on the site. The risk analysis included an understanding of the maximum timelines associated with finalising the concept and associated budget and viability, the timelines associated with meeting the town planning and heritage requirements and complying with same.

SIP coordinated the efforts of all affected parties including neighbours, the client and the consultants to progress with the finalisation of the design concept stage, Thereafter followed the finalisation of the design development

As a point-of-departure for the visual design, separate colours were assigned to different floors

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stage leading into the preparation of tender documentation for the demolitions as well as for the principal building contract to be prepared and released to achieve the early start dates.

The indicative construction programme was prepared which informed the construction packages tender and procurement schedule as well as the design documentation programme.

The procurement policy for the project was agreed based on prevailing market conditions to tender all construction packages. The preparation of a construction packages tender and procurement schedule, which also addressed the typical long lead in times associated with installations such as flush glazed curtain walling facades, elevators, mechanical and electrical plant etc, was undertaken.

The imperative nature of achieving timeous issue of construction documentation issue was managed on the basis of design documentation programmes that were prepared based on the indicative construction programme.

The tender documentation was prepared in a detailed fashion, addressing all pertinent requirements to be fulfilled on a bespoke office and television broadcasting studios building, whilst being mindful of the overall construction period.

The project was structured on a staged completion basis which allowed for ETV to dovetail their broadcasting and operations equipment installations in readiness for ‘going live’.

The building’s four TV studios form the heart of the client’s brief. The technical requirements that the studios had to adhere to posed a number of unique construction challenges.