Portside is a 139-metre-tall (456 ft) building in Cape Town, South Africa. Completed in 2014, it is the city's tallest building[3] and, at the time of completion, was Cape Town's first significant skyscraper developed in the central business district (CBD) in 15 years.[4]
Portside Tower | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Commercial |
Address | 5 Buitengracht Street |
Town or city | Cape Town |
Country | South Africa |
Coordinates | 33°55′00″S 18°25′19″E / 33.91667°S 18.42194°E |
Completed | 2014 |
Cost | R1.6 Billion (estimated)[1] |
Owner | Accelerate Property Fund and First Rand |
Landlord | Baker Street Properties |
Height | 139 metres (456 ft) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 32[2] |
Floor area | over 52,000 m2[2] |
Design and construction | |
Architecture firm | dhk Architects; Louis Karol Architects[2] |
Civil engineer | WSP Structures Nadeson |
Quantity surveyor | Aecom Davis Langdon De Leeuw Group |
Main contractor | Murray & Roberts |
Awards and prizes | Tallest Green Building in South Africa |
Website | |
www |
The property is jointly owned by FirstRand Bank (FNB, RMB, Wesbank and Ashburton) and Accelerate Property Fund (APF). The bank self-occupies its share of the property, while AcPF leases office and retail space to tenants. AcPF appointed the Cape Town commercial brokerage firm Baker Street Properties[5] to manage and market the property.
The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) awarded the property a 5 star Green Star rating,[6] making it the tallest Green Building in South Africa.
Conception
editIn 2008, it was initially proposed that the building would include a hotel and be 147.6 metres (484 ft) above sea level. However, due to the late-2000s recession and difficulties in securing a hotel management contact, the project was put on hold for almost three years and the design was altered.[7]
During the design and planning phase, and after extensive public participation, it was decided to keep the building below a certain height so as not to obscure the view of Table Mountain. The 32-storey tower[8] has over 51,500 square metres (554,000 sq ft) of office space with remaining space being used for over 1,382 parking bays[9] and retail outlets.
The building was designed to use low energy technology throughout and is the first large building in South Africa to use almost exclusively LED lighting. The building has been awarded a five star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of South Africa as compliant technologies have been specified throughout.[10]
The South African architecture studio dhk Architects; Louis Karol Architects designed the building.[11]
Construction
editConstruction work on the tower began on 12 August 2011.[7] In late March 2013, construction was temporarily halted by the City of Cape Town's disaster response unit due to strong gale-force winds making the scaffolding unstable.[9]
References
edit- ^ "At The Portside". Land Mark Properties. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
- ^ a b c "The Building Portside". Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
- ^ "Cape Town | Statistics". Emporis. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
- "Cape Town's tallest building officially unveiled : Property News from Property360". - ^ "Portside Tower Cape Town". e-architect. 20 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
- ^ "We are your new go-to firm for everything on Portside in Cape Town (blog)". Baker Street Properties. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
- ^ Munnik, Mike (February 2015). "GBCSA Case Studies | Portside" (PDF). Green Building Council of South Africa.
- ^ a b Williams, Murray (4 August 2011). "Cape Town to get new tallest building". Cape Argus. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ^ "Portside building gets five-star as-built Green Star rating award". Weekend Argus. 28 March 2015.
- ^ a b "Winds make Cape skyscraper unstable". SAPA. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ^ "Portside Ahoy In Cape Town". Skyscraper News. 19 June 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
- ^ "Portside by dhk architects in Cape Town, South Africa". World Architecture News. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2018.