Portside's five-star parking takes green to new heights

In 2013 Portside office building in Buitengracht, designed by dhk architects, was awarded a five-star for design under the Green Building Council of South Africa’s (GBCSA) Green Star rating system for offices.

This acknowledgement makes Portside the first five-star Green Star SA certified high rise office development in South Africa and in Africa.

Just one of the many attributes contributing to this prestigious rating is the approach taken to the design of the parking facilities.

“The parking design for Portside has been developed to promote the use of fuel efficient transport, using the Green Building Council of South Africa’s technical manual credit criteria as a guideline,” says David Talbot, associate at dhk architects.

“Motor vehicles in general – and private cars in particular, are responsible for a large percentage of carbon emissions, through fuel consumption and oil production required to produce fuel. The building design encourages use of alternative methods of transport by providing preferential parking, ease of access and support facilities for alternative methods of transport. This is aimed at reducing the large amount of energy and fuel used by vehicles, which leads to greenhouse gas emissions that are so detrimental to the environment.”

Talbot says about 70 parking bays at Portside are dedicated for use by hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles. About 20 percent of these hybrid and alternative fuel vehicle bays are provided and fitted with electric car charger points, with an additional 35 percent wired to facilitate the future connection of chargers. These bays are all in preferential areas closest to the lifts and lobby access.

In addition, Portside has secured parking in the building for about 220 bicycles for staff. A cycle route is clearly marked and signposted to facilitate safe and easy access to the parking spaces. An additional 30 community bicycle parking bays are located outside on the Portside entrance plaza. All these bays have racks so that bicycles can be securely locked. Shower and change facilities are also provided for cyclists, with lockable lockers, some of which are fitted with cycle battery charge facilities.

Derick Henstra, head of dhk architects, says the design innovations and environmental considerations incorporated in the design of the Portside project are among the first in Cape Town.

“The design was sensitive to the environmental and aesthetic requirements of the building. We believe we have successfully balanced the two imperatives while laying down the blueprint for similar eco-sensitive designs in the future, to the benefit of the City of Cape Town and all its citizens.”

The estimated completion date for construction of Portside is April.

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