Customs House

by David Southwood


by David Southwood


by Heinrich Wolff


by Heinrich Wolff


by Heinrich Wolff


by Heinrich Wolff


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OH2 Public Buildings

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What is the state of our public buildings? – is the question Ches Besada and I asked ourselves when we started planning this tour. Schools, cemeteries, defunct shopping malls, police stations and transport interchanges formed the basis of our enquiry. What we found was that the best public buildings need to accommodate a variety of needs. A police station needs to be a welcoming place as well as a place of holding; a school needs to double up as an income generator for the community; and a cemetery must be a sculptural plaza to remember the dead whilst overlooking the ocean. Photo credits: Cesar Besada  Simonstown Memorial - R.S Uytenbogaardt   Werdmuller Centre - RS Uytenbogaardt Usazazo Secondary School - Noero Wolff    IIDMM - Gabriel Fagan Architects Elsenburg Agricultural College - Design Studio 
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In response to the issue of ‘sustainability’ in architecture – an issue which is often exploited by the sale of gimmicks and tricks to ‘lower the carbon footprint of the building’ – I wanted to see what aspect of the building has the most influence in the saving of energy consumption. According to Paul Carew and Michelle Ludwig of   PJC Consulting , the temperature control of the building has a huge role to play and, in turn, the design of the façade becomes vital. How one designs the façade of the building in terms of heat gain, solar control and daylight penetration can save major costs not to mention renewable energy. So we spent the day walking through the city and looking at building facades while Paul and Michelle pointed out the various features which make the facades energy efficient or not. Photo credits: Ches Besada
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