Civil Engineering March 2022 | Vol 30 No 2

Civil Engineering March 2022 11 collaboration, and innovation. This results in a space where industry and students from different faculties and disciplines can learn to work together in multidisci- plinary and transdisciplinary teams on real-world, complex challenges. The d-school’s new home at UCT will have multiple floors and a standout architectural and interior design. The new four-storey building aims to be the first 6-star Green Star-rated academic building in Africa. Environmental sustainability is an essential value for UCT, which aligns well with the Hasso Plattner Foundation’s values, and this project was able to be ambitious in its green building objectives by going well beyond UCT’s minimum requirement for new buildings (4-star), targeting a 6-star green building rating which equates to ‘World Leadership’ according to the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA). D-school staff are expected to oc- cupy the building in June 2022 with the official grand opening scheduled for October 2022. DESIGN DEVELOPMENT The first step in the initial brief develop- ment of the project was a visit by the architect KMH and the UCT d-school leadership to the existing d-school facilities in Stanford, USA and Potsdam, Germany to meet with the leadership of these two facilities and to observe the teaching programmes and how the spaces in the respective facilities are utilised. An important facet of the d-school’s approach to the building, its internal layout and its fit-out, is that these are seen pri- marily as a means to enable creative behav- iour of students. This philosophy has been a key driver of the design development of the building. Proper functionality is a given, but how each element of the building influences the behaviour of its occupants is paramount. This facet of the design development has been the most interesting and challenging component of the process, which has been unusually iterative, since each space and element needs to be considered from two viewpoints: 1. Does this space or element optimise architectural function, aesthetics and buildability? 2. How does this space or element positively influence the behaviour of the students, and does it promote and encourage design thinking? Maximum flexibility and the option to prototype and remodel spaces are also imperative design considerations. In ad- dition to this, the building is targeting a maximum 6-star rating from the GBCSA which has required interventions such as thermally activated building systems, which regulate the temperature of the thermal mass of the concrete floor slabs to control the indoor environment, instead of deploying conventional climate control systems. DESIGN COLLABORATION The architect was selected by way of an architectural competition conducted by UCT. The concept put forward by the selected architect, KMH Architects, was one containing a prominent, organically curved large span roof. Upon appointment of the architect, this concept was im- mediately interrogated to understand the roof-related procurement, design, manu- facture, and installation requirements. Initial concepts proposed welding the domed steelwork in situ, however, the re- quired member sizes and the complexity of in-situ installation made it immediately apparent that alternative options needed to be considered. A free-form roof struc- ture was the obvious alternative; however, these are rare in South Africa and after initial investigation it was found that there was just a single contractor in the country that was capable of such an installation. A proposal was put forward to UCT Procurement to enter into a negotiation with LEAF Structures as the sole provider of free-form structures in South Africa, which was approved. LEAF Structures was issued a letter of intent to appoint as design, supply and install contractor. Additionally, LEAF’s early engineering input was required in the development of the design of the roof, and so they were also appointed for design-assist services and integrated into the profes- sional team in the design development of the free-form roof, providing design guidance to both the architect and structural engineer. By combining KMH Architect’s unique building design with LEAF Structures’ innovative gridshell feature element and Haw & Inglis’ installation experience, the team was able to leverage the expertise from each party, while also employing design thinking in the build- ing’s creation. The interdisciplinary team collaborated at each step in the project to create a world-class building capable of cultivating design thinking. FREE-FORM ROOF STRUCTURE One of the striking elements of the building is the 75 m long glass clad steel gridshell structure. From early in the concept development phase, this gridshell was identified as an important feature of the building. At the atrium the gridshell acts as a skylight, bringing light into the building and assisting with the building’s 6-star green rating, but also as a canopy spanning over the entrance façade and folding down to the ground. This creates a welcoming indoor/outdoor space in which the d-school community and members of the greater UCT campus could meet. From the atrium, the gridshell wraps around the eastern and western sides of the building to form two high-level cano- pies, each supported by a concrete parapet and three steel tree columns. Since the d-school is located on a triangular site with high foot traffic passing the eastern and western sides of the building, these canopies function as beacons, encour- aging students to enter the building, while also beautifully rounding out the sharp corners of this triangular building. To bring this concept to life, LEAF needed to leverage both its local and international knowledge and experience on how to design, supply and install free- form gridshell feature elements. LEAF carried out the detailed design on three The structural engineer, Welby Solomon Civil Engineers (WSCE), and the specialist design and build roof contractor, LEAF Structures, were informed by the design brief: “when entering the d-school one must get a feeling that this is a different learning environment”, “at the entrance you must feel the energy”, “spaces may be repurposed as the d-school evolves”, “there must be good natural lighting”, and “a visitor to the d-school must be able to find the building and entrance easily”.