African Design Magazine November 2015 | Page 20

trapped and dispersed, saving electricity. This is achieved through the ETFE roofing system over the atrium. The existing site that is being built was regarded as low ecological value with only minimal exotic trees being removed. These trees have been replaced with 15 new large trees, integrated into the atrium design – thus echoing the green theme. The atrium is covered with a very sophisticated sunscreen three layer ETFE roof. Originally developed for the space industry, the material is unique in that it does not degrade under ultraviolet light or atmospheric pollution). This science, combined with state-of-the-art double glazing, controls, stores and focuses light, heat and energy so efficiently that you literally save hundreds of kilowatt hours each day. Adding to MultiChoice’s commitment to transparency, glazing delivers natural light to the heart of the building through the ETFE roof and extensive glassing. Transparency is also complimented in the architecture by simplicity and sharing, as the building works to bring people together naturally, using multiple service cores and ease of movement across two bridges on each floor. From the inception of the project, focus was placed on the sustainability of the building. The approach to achieve this was a sensible combination of value-adding 20 africandesignmagazine.com