Clients Brief or vision:
The design brief called for glazed balustrades, side mounted to slab edges in a mild steel channel. The channel would need to follow the complex organic shapes of the atriums and a combination of curved, facetted and straight channels were designed. A stainless steel handrail, attached to the glass structure with stainless steel handrail fittings was also called for.
A first on this project was the use of multi-axis laser scanning, to accurately scan and plot the lines and levels of all the atrium concrete to transfer through onto our drawing package. This technology gave us an extremely accurate measure of the radii, lines and levels to assist in very accurate channel fabrication. This process also alleviated the need for time consuming on-site manual measuring work and surveying. An example of the scan below:
Time frame from concept to completion and everything in between:
Our interaction with Boogertman & Partners and Paragon Architects started in 2015. Initial design discussions were held with regards to the brief and design intent. Concept sketches were done in conjunction with Pure Consulting, the Structural Engineers, and the Architects and Client, to a point were an acceptable structural detail met with the required aesthetic of the balustrade.
A series of meetings were held with the Client, Architect and Structural and Fire Engineer, to come up with a solution to meet the requirements of SANS for Escape Routes to enable us to cost engineer a solution accommodating numerous Code requirements. The final solution was a combination of 16.76mm thick toughened laminate glass for high load areas and 12.76mm thick for lower load areas.
Again, curved or bent panels of glass were used, as well as straight panels to follow the organic shapes designed into the atriums and concourse areas.
Unique cast stainless steel handrail brackets were also designed to accommodate for the change in glass thickness at the intersections between the two different types, without compromising the centreline of the handrail.
Steel Studio’s scope of work included for 2500 metres of Atrium balustrade, 1500 metres of concourse balustrade and 1000 metres of bespoke designed rail balustrade in stainless steel for the Podium and Roof areas.
The professional team that we worked with:
Zenprop, Growthpoint, Morta Project Managers, Boogertman and Partners Architects, Paragon Architects, Pentad Quantity Surveyors, Pure Consulting, Trevor Williams Consulting Engineers, Tiber/WBHO JV.
Design and Engineering work done by Steel Studio to make the architectural design and the client’s vision come to life in a practical manner: One of the areas we pride ourselves in is finding effective engineered balustrade solutions to fit the Architects design aesthetic, mandatory SANS requirements, Client’s budget and installation practicalities. Over a period of almost 2 years, we were able to engineer a structural glass balustrade system, to tie in with other finishing trades to produce a beautiful balustrade system which compliments a revolutionary and iconic building
