One Discovery Place in Sandton achieves six Green Star As-Built rating

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Aurecon (rebranding as Zutari), provided mechanical and ESD (environmentally sustainable design) services for the development. One Discovery Place was developed by Growthpoint Properties in a joint venture with Zenprop Holdings.

One Discovery Place comprises a public-accessible ground floor plus eight levels of office space, a Tier 3 plus data centre and an activities-related feature roof level. The combined gross floor area (GFA) of Phases 1 and 2 is about 150,000 m², or about 18 rugby fields, with an additional 24 rugby fields of parking space.

“Being part of this landmark project has been an honour as well as a fantastic learning curve as to what can be achieved when sustainability, wellness and community are the golden thread throughout each design decision,” commented Martin Smith, technical director – buildings, Aurecon.

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As the ESD consultant, Aurecon’s role was to integrate the design of the architecture and building services from a sustainability point of view, explains Yovka Raytcheva-Schaap, associate, ESD consulting and project management, Aurecon.

“From the very inception of the project, we worked in close collaboration with developers Growthpoint and Zenprop, Discovery the tenant and the entire professional team to first establish the sustainability objectives and then see these implemented throughout the construction,” Raytcheva-Schaap highlights. A critical role in this process was played by the principal contractor, a joint venture between WBHO and Tiber, as well as all subcontractors appointed for the various trades.

‘Green’ initiatives included highly efficient air-conditioning system, optimally-designed, energy-efficient lighting, grey and rainwater harvesting systems and water-efficient sanitary fittings, as well as carbon monoxide monitoring in the basement.