Page 8 - EngineerIT October 2021

GREEN ENVIRONMENTS

More green stars for iconic

Sandton building

he iconic 1 Discovery Place in Sandton has been awarded design through to construction, commissioning and rating.” The
a 5 Star, Green Star Interiors v1 certification by the Green interior rating process only occurs after the building has been
TBuilding Council of South Africa (GBCSA). It is also only constructed, with Discovery taking occupation in early 2018.
one of a handful of projects to have achieved a 6 Star, Green “In the early stages, we saw the commitment of developers
Star As-Built rating. Growthpoint Properties and Zenprop in terms of the base build
Interior architecture company Paragon Interface, part of the rating, and now we are seeing Discovery’s commitment as well
Paragon Group, was responsible for the fit-out, while leading with regard to the interior rating. To my knowledge, there are only
consulting engineering and infrastructure advisory firm Zutari a couple of buildings that have achieved both design and as-built
provided mechanical and ESD (environmentally sustainable ratings, and then continuing the process for the fit-out rating.”
design) services. Involved initially with the base build rating, it was a natural
“It was always such a team effort. We could not have progression for Zutari to continue with the certification process.
completed this project successfully without the cooperation “There were a lot of design features we could leverage from
and collaboration of the entire professional team,” says Claire the base build for the interiors rating,” says Raytcheva-Schaap.
D’Adorante, director at Paragon Interface. She cites the interior Paragon Interface worked closely with Zutari in terms of targeting
rating as a fantastic achievement. “An interior rating is an in- the necessary points.
use, over-time kind of rating. It is especially meaningful, as the “The fundamental difference here is that we looked more at
building is functioning the way it was intended. Three years after the interior environment and how it affects the occupants, so it
handover, and it is still going great.” has a slightly different focus. The base build rating is about the
“It is the largest building we have come across in South wider environment, the location of the building, the construction
Africa that has ever been certified. It is really a phenomenal process, base build energy and water and materials use
achievement from a design and rating point of view,” says solutions, while the interiors rating covers, in more detail, indoor
Yovka Raytcheva-Schaap, associate, ESD Consulting & Project environmental quality for inhabitants, acoustics, ergonomics,
Management at Zutari, who first became involved with the project greenery and reuse, among other elements,” points out
in 2013. “It has been a long process, from the initial concept D’Adorante.

EngineerIT | October 2021 | 6