Department of Foreign Affairs Head Office is larger than life – by Nick van der Leek
On the once barren 15 hectare Department site on Soutpansberg Road, the new Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Head Office has risen in the City of Tshwane. The eucalyptus clad hillside in the Rietondale area has been cleared to make way for the new, integrated structure; it looms on a prominent corner site. The cement, steel and glass façade rises prominently over the road, giving an imposing and iconic status to what has been, until now, a scattered agglomeration of Foreign Affairs satellites. The new building, scheduled for completion in March 2009, is a brilliant, immediately recognisable integration of the five permutations into one home. It’s a single, cohesive, multidisciplinary address for Foreign Affairs.
Holistic Design philosophy
In pursuit of the Department’s primary deliverable – optimum service delivery – the architects have endeavoured to facilitate maximum communication between branches. This has been achieved through a technique known as ‘blocking and stacking’. Public participation from diverse groups were involved to ascertain environmental impacts. These simultaneous processes were undertaken speedily before the project – commissioned to be a “window and gateway for South Africa to the world” – was greenlighted.
The theme of the structure is described by the architects as a contant yin-yang, with contrasts affected in terms of tight and free spaces, hard and soft forms and the alternate sharp and matt surface colors. The interior space is modern and contemporary, somewhat formulaic, but maintaining the hint of African motifs.
The building, according to the architects, ‘is what it is. It does not pretend to something that it is not. It strives to be a bold and understandable statement of a series of building blocks strung together in an ordered fashion along a unifying central street.’ But it is also more than that.
Meaningful Design Aspects
The facilities, the handiwork of consulting engineers Thys Bakker and Associates Inc, are described as industry leading for contemporary government structures. The environment is more than unique, the inputs have been geared towards making an efficient working, living (there are two boutique guesthouses installed) and sociable environment. The structure has been designed to enrich and uplift those who enter and are otherwise exposed to the structural design flow.
One challenge was a stylistic manipulation that involved flipping the building’s orientation from south to north. Neoclassical structures and layers were introduced into the bold protective skins of the north façade [facing the motorway] while the south saw purist arching columns and beam structures, a design far more open and transparent. There was difficulty in reconciling these into a cohesive orientation, but the building’s facades and columns do frame and envelope the surrounding space in a manner that complements both.
In addition the outputs were successful in achieving a structure with a distinctly South African character. The friendly, unified, spaces portray something of the basic, though to some extent anachronistic African renaissance theme.
The single, integrated facility makes extensive use of natural stone walls that make the building relevant to the rocky materials of the ridge. Biodiversity is maintained by integrating the natural ridge vegetations with the landscape aesthetics.
What is also obvious is the focus to create energising, yet comfortable, inhabitable human spaces. There has been an emphasis in delivering a working environment that feels like the outdoors, yet is not, in the architects own words, ‘compromised by invasive direct sunlight. The ground floor plan’ they assert ‘affords access to all of the shared amenities and circulation zones. The open balconies encourage interaction with the street.’
Many open passages throughout the structure facilitate circulation, interaction and flow of visitors. The user’s participation in the structure is also heightened through the use of glass lifts and escalators. Generous pause areas around circulation routes encourage an continuous working area.
The flowing entrances are designed to lift the user into the space since all entry is via the basement and then stairs, escalators of lifts. The user is brought to a generous atrium filled with ambient light.
The glazed north façade with its four columns provides a view clean through the structure; signifying transparency.
The large interior space hosts large numbers of people without a sense of overcrowding. The long reception counter also facilitates a sense of friendly access, and an antidote to visitor congestion. The help desk is directly opposite the main reception desk, affording visual communication between the two related functions . A toilet block is located directly off the reception. The central focus of this core space is a large display of gifts.
Security is divided into two layers. The first is an X ray scan for people and personal belongings. The second layer requires authorized pass through cards.
Efficiency is achieved both through the use of multi-purpose spaces and a fluorescent lighting system which automatically switches off when ambient light levels are sufficient. Lower electric light loads also lowers the amount of heat generated in the building, which results in lowered operational costs, especially air conditioning.
Air conditioning in the DFA has been a challenge for the designers. Large airy spaces and open balustrading are not easy to control. While the system is far from passive, the building does comply with the Department’s stated objective – to improve energy consumption of typical structures by 20%. As such the DFA building can be regarded as a benchmark of efficiency, and an industry leader in terms of a project conceived prior to the Green Star Rating system.
Conclusion
While the DFA is itself a boon to industry standards in this country, and design in general, and although the traffic flows incidental to the structure are effective, of more concern are the impacts on vehicular traffic levels on the motorway out front. This will necessarily impact directly on the adjacent suburbs of Chamberlain and Queenswood. The R1.3 billion development accommodates 2000 personnel which is likely to impact on the suburban traffic loads, and particularly on the 3 lane Soutpansberg Road. The 175 000 square metre development will nevertheless bring prestige to this part of Tshwane, where residents can expect this state-of-the-art conference centre to attract, to one singular space, the pre-eminent leaders of the African continent, along with ordinary South Africans. As it should be.
Sources:
Architects Design report
Vela VKE
http://www.velavke.co.za/docs/582/Vela%20Voice%206%20.pdf
Thys Bakker and Associates Inc
http://www.tb.co.za/TBA.swf
New Department of Foreign Affairs Constuction Site, 29/04/2009, Panoramic photo by John Gore
http://www.360cities.net/image/department-of-foreign-affairs-head-office-constuction-site
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