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The head offices of Trustco
Group Holdings are located on the periphery of Windhoek’s CBD in an
old residential precinct increasingly characterised by multi-storeyed
office and public-sector buildings. Constructed in two phases, the
Trustco complex occupies a full city block along the busy Robert
Mugabe Avenue between Uhland and Keller Streets.
A five storey office
building positioned on the southern portion of the site formed the
first phase. With the emphasis on flexibility and versatility,
office space is arranged in a narrow open-plan configuration
maximising orientation and view; cellular offices are strung along
the northern façade. The small footprint of the building required
that circulation space be kept to an absolute minimum.
Visitors approach the building across a landscaped terrace that
forms part of the ground-floor coffee shop and bistro. The office
section is entered through a multi volume foyer with a light-weight
steel-and-glass walkway linking office, services and boardroom on
each floor.
The double-volume open-plan configuration and the light-weight
mezzanine floor of the top floor were a result of management style
and a desire for a different spatial treatment of interior and
exterior, hence also the introduction of the light-weight floating
roof and side-wall cladding.
Fenestration takes the form
of punched windows recessed into the face-brick of the northern
façade, while a generous glass curtain wall dominates the southern
façade and facilitates unimpeded views of the CBD.
The second phase of the complex that occupies the northern portion
of the site is a three-storey office building with a parking
basement and separate entrance from Uhland Street. A multi-volume
atrium separates the office section from the two parking floors
serving the first phase.
The challenge of the
architecture was to respond to the surrounding urban context whilst
fulfilling the client’s singular wish for an imposing edifice in
complete contrast to its setting. The new building had to capture
the dynamic essence of the company and reflect its technological
bias and innovative approach to management, viz. state-of-the-art
modern, vibrant and unconventional. The overall design and
volumetric juxtaposition, the attention to detail and choice of the
material – off-shutter concrete, face brick, aluminium, steel,
timber, glass and stone – all reflect these aspirations without
losing sight of the specific context. The requirement of low
maintenance also played an important role in the choice of materials
and finishes.
From a structural point of view one of the challenges was dealing
with the dynamics of the Pahl Fault on which the building is
located.
Perhaps the most stimulating
aspect of the project was catering to the imposition of
ever-changing accommodation requirements throughout the process of
construction. The first phase, for example, started as a
three-storey structure to which two additional floors, and the café
were added some time after building has started, demanding swift and
innovative aesthetic and structural interventions by architect and
engineer.
Equally challenging was the transformation of the second phase from
cardiac hospital to office building under similar circumstances with
construction already at an advanced stage. Apart from dealing with the concomitant problems of layout,
circulation, and aspects of local authority requirements such as
parking, the two buildings had to be integrated into the visual
entity by, among other things, skilful manipulation of the very long
western façade. Provision also had to be made for future expansion
of the complex to the north east of the site.
Construction of a third phase is now in the planning stages.
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