Portside Tower

Portside is a 139-metre-tall (456 ft) building in Cape Town, South Africa. Completed in 2014, it is the city's tallest building[3] and, at the time of completion, was Cape Town's first significant skyscraper developed in the central business district (CBD) in 15 years.[4]

Portside Tower
Portside Tower in 2018
General information
TypeCommercial
Address5 Buitengracht Street
Town or cityCape Town
CountrySouth Africa
Coordinates33°55′00″S 18°25′19″E
Completed2014
CostR1.6 Billion (estimated)[1]
OwnerAccelerate Property Fund and First Rand
LandlordBaker Street Properties
Height139 metres (456 ft)
Technical details
Floor count32[2]
Floor areaover 52,000 m2[2]
Design and construction
Architecture firmdhk Architects; Louis Karol Architects[2]
Civil engineerWSP Structures
Nadeson
Quantity surveyorAecom Davis Langdon
De Leeuw Group
Main contractorMurray & Roberts
Awards and prizesTallest Green Building in South Africa
Website
www.portsidecapetown.com

The property is jointly owned by FirstRand Bank (FNB, RMB, Wesbank and Ashburton) and Accelerate Property Fund (APF). The bank self-occupies its share of the property, while AcPF leases office and retail space to tenants. AcPF appointed the Cape Town commercial brokerage firm Baker Street Properties[5] to manage and market the property.

The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) awarded the property a 5 star Green Star rating,[6] making it the tallest Green Building in South Africa.

Conception

In 2008, it was initially proposed that the building would include a hotel and be 147.6 metres (484 ft) above sea level. However, due to the late-2000s recession and difficulties in securing a hotel management contact, the project was put on hold for almost three years and the design was altered.[7]

During the design and planning phase, and after extensive public participation, it was decided to keep the building below a certain height so as not to obscure the view of Table Mountain. The 32-storey tower[8] has over 51,500 square metres (554,000 sq ft) of office space with remaining space being used for over 1,382 parking bays[9] and retail outlets.

The building was designed to use low energy technology throughout and is the first large building in South Africa to use almost exclusively LED lighting. The building has been awarded a five star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of South Africa as compliant technologies have been specified throughout.[10]

The South African architecture studio dhk designed the building.[11]

Construction
The Portside Tower under construction in June 2012. The photograph is taken from the south facing side of the building.

Construction work on the tower began on 12 August 2011.[7] In late March 2013, construction was temporarily halted by the City of Cape Town's disaster response unit due to strong gale-force winds making the scaffolding unstable.[9]

References
  1. "At The Portside". Land Mark Properties. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  2. "The Building Portside". Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  3. "Cape Town | Statistics". Emporis. Archived from the original on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
    - "Cape Town's tallest building officially unveiled : Property News from Property360".
  4. "Portside Tower Cape Town". e-architect. 20 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  5. "We are your new go-to firm for everything on Portside in Cape Town (blog)". Baker Street Properties. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  6. Munnik, Mike (February 2015). "GBCSA Case Studies | Portside" (PDF). Green Building Council of South Africa.
  7. Williams, Murray (4 August 2011). "Cape Town to get new tallest building". Cape Argus. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  8. "Portside building gets five-star as-built Green Star rating award". Weekend Argus. 28 March 2015.
  9. "Winds make Cape skyscraper unstable". SAPA. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  10. "Portside Ahoy In Cape Town". Skyscraper News. 19 June 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  11. "Portside by dhk architects in Cape Town, South Africa". World Architecture News. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
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