Sable Park, South Africa
A unique and beautiful addition to Century City
“Great engineering is able to slot in seamlessly with a client’s vision and the architectural intent of a project. Sable Park is a testament to what can be achieved when all parties are committed to excellence,” – Jaco de Villiers, Zutari Technical Director.
Sable Park is an award-winning office development in Century City, Cape Town. The development consists of two four-storey 8 000 m² blocks, one of which is occupied by Discovery Health and the other one being occupied by multiple tenants, including MTN. The development is situated close to Century City Urban Square and Sable Road, a major route in and out of Century City.
In 2015, Rabie Property Group appointed Zutari for the structural and civil engineering work of the two office blocks, two combined basement levels, and the combined podium level. The civil work included bulk earthworks design, stormwater design, subsoil design, and designing the development’s connection to existing civil services.
Some of the challenges on the project included ensuring the lateral stability of the office towers without altering the form of the architectural intent. This was achieved by using soldier piles in the basement to ensure minimal impact on the surrounding roads during excavation and construction.
The floors of one of the buildings were architecturally designed to create a staggered effect. It meant erecting large structural cantilevers that didn’t encroach on the architectural concept. To accomplish this, our design team created a post-tensioned slab system that fully expressed the architectural vision for the building.
“Great engineering is able to slot in seamlessly with a client’s vision and the architectural intent of a project. Sable Park is a testament to what can be achieved when all parties are committed to excellence”
In 2019, the project won the SAPOA (South African Property Owners Association) Award for Innovative Excellence in the Office Development/Commercial category.
In the entrance atriums, support for the glazing had to be seamlessly incorporated into the architectural design of the glass façade. Steel columns and beams were used, with the steel elements being connected to the existing concrete frame with minimal impact on the building’s aesthetics.
Construction of the project started in November 2016 and was completed in April 2018. The result was an ergonomic, open plan, AAA-grade office building with a stacked and rotated block effect within the structural frame of the building. This unique design creates an interesting and striking visual form. In 2019, the project won the SAPOA (South African Property Owners Association) Award for Innovative Excellence in the Office Development/Commercial category.
“Sable Park is a unique and beautiful addition to Century City. Great teamwork between the client, design team and cost consultant enabled delivery of a world-class office development on time and within budget. The client is proud to report that it is fully let,” says Jaco de Villiers.
*The Aurecon Africa business has been officially renamed Zutari as at 21 July 2020. Zutari acquired Aurecon Middle East on 20 November 2020.
