Landmark library not a dusty, quiet space
THE RECENTLY completed Sol Plaatje University Student Resource Centre (library) will serve as a knowledge, information and learning centre that will encourage robust discussion, while making an intellectual and physical contribution to the city of Kimberley.
Standing as the iconic centrepiece of the Sol Plaatje University’s main campus, the bold and original concrete building pushes the boundaries of architectural and engineering design, which required very high expectations from the concrete to perform not only as a structural but also as an aesthetic material.
While still under construction, the building was awarded as the winner of the 2017 Fulton Award, in the category “Buildings greater than 3-Storeys”. The project also received a commendation in the “Architectural Concrete” category at the prestigious biennial event which recognises excellence and innovation in the use of concrete.
The Fulton Awards are widely considered as the “Oscars” of the South African concrete industry.
According to the judges of the award, the contractor managed the unusually demanding staging and shuttering of huge areas of free-standing external envelope walling at the highest possible standards and delivered a highly refined, consistently silky off-steel surface finish.
“This landmark library not only celebrates concrete as its main material but it allows concrete a highly visible civic and sculptural presence. Concrete becomes one of the key features of the main pedestrian spine of the new university campus which links it to the surrounding city of Kimberley,” the judges’ citation reads.
The building is immediately noticeable by its concrete façade that seamlessly blends in with the roof of the structure and appears as if floating 2.4 metres off the ground.
This three-dimensional concrete envelope is functionally, structurally and technically separated from the inner core of the building. The void created between the external envelope and floor plates along the perimeter of the building acts as a thermal duvet between the non-insulated external shell and its habitable building, while facilitating all vertical movement, houses the services and allows natural light to all floors.
The aesthetic success is directly dependent on overall building form, openings in this form were defined with the energy consultant to achieve optimal climate and light-harvesting objectives.
The relentless rhythm of the shutter lines and concrete lifts give proportion to the form in the most delicate way, like a fine pinstripe suit: invisible from afar, precisely crafted from close up.
The main contractor on the project was Murray & Dickson Construction, with Mark Horner, from designworkshop:sa, as architect and Heinrich Stander from the Aurecon Group as structural engineer.
During a walk-through of the six-floor library and the recently completed laboratories, Horner said that the main brief provided by the SPU was to create a “critically integrated and volumetrically connected space” that could evolve as requirements changed.
The library is draped in a continuous in situ concrete shell, which takes on a strong angular diamond-like shape. Each roof corner of the building is at a different level which corresponds with the neighbouring building, tying the overall precinct together as the focal point of the central campus.
The diamond shape of the building is reminiscent of the diamond mining history of the city.
One of the key structural elements of the project is the library’s floating façade. The integrated external skin of the building blends the walls with an origami-like roof that is functionally, structurally and technically independent from its inner building core.
Stander said the slenderness, finish and the number of cast-in elements needed for the floating façade required considerable research and out-ofthe-box thinking from the design team.
He added that precision in execution was needed and the contractor was brought on board during the design process, allowing various design options to be assessed and improved from a constructability perspective.
“One of the major challenges with the floating concrete façade was the precision needed in execution. The contractor was brought on board during the design process, which allowed various design options to be assessed and improved from a constructability perspective.
“This landmark library and student resources building provides a highly visible and sculptural presence to the central campus precinct, linking it to the surrounding Kimberley inner city regeneration project,” Stander said.
Another important structural element on the project was the use of A-frames over the auditorium. This enabled the design team to omit two columns without using bulky transfer beams in the space, which provided better aesthetics and enabled cost savings as the floor-to-floor height of the space didn’t have to increase, as a consequence.
SPU Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Yunus Ballim, said that the library would serve as a national standard for infrastructure development and that the building would capture the imagination of peers, while challenging the sense of traditional libraries as dusty and quiet spaces.