Interior Architects and Project Managers

Kate Shimwell chats to the MEC

Shimwell Designs is privileged to work on the refurbishment project of the NUMSA building in the Johannesburg CBD. Their brief was to design and implement a variety of solutions to reduce the carbon footprint and to refurbish the long-term use of the building. Because the budget was set two years ago, feasible, sustainable solutions needed to be cost effective. NUMSA delegates, the mayoral representative from Johannesburg, the MEC and other guests had a tour of the facilities in the run up to the opening in July 2013.

Maurits explains how the solar panel system works

Kate explained some of the features that are part of the low carbon, eco sensitive solutions to all who were there:

REUSE AND RECYCLE

• The façades have been kept intact to avoid additional concrete;
• Internal doors and partitioning were reused;
• Metal items were reclaimed and sold to offset expense;
• Two original lifts were reused with only the interior of the cars being refurbished;
• Old style plaster applications were reused, repaired and freshly painted;
• 80% of the original window frames were kept and refurbished;
• The Nexus carpets have 37% recycled material and are manufactured in South Africa;
• The rubber flooring in the Pause areas is 79% recycled car tyre and made in South Africa;
• Low COC paints were used on the walls.

Kate detailing the "green" features of the building

WATER WISE

• The building water supply is gravity fed from tanks mounted on the roof to supply water for two days in the event of a water cut;
• The WC’s and bathrooms are fitted with cobra demand taps, which prevent wastage as the tap automatically turns off if you are not pressing down on the top valve;
• Kwik hot under-counter and above-counter 5L geyser units at the point of use were utilised. No wait for the water to get hot eliminates wasting water and electricity;
• One geyser is used for the two showers;
• The lower balcony has a water tank that harvests rain water to supply the planters.

Wendy chatting to the Mayoral Representative

ENERGY SAVINGS

• Low-energy fluorescent lighting and LEDs that reduce power consumption are fitted throughout the building;
• The floors occupied by NUMSA are fitted with motion and ultra-sonic sensors, which switch lighting on and off in areas based on occupancy. Tesla Engineering showed that the savings would be 29,160KWh and have a rand savings of R33,534 per year;
• A central control system is installed with the ability to switch on lighting and air conditioning on all floors at preselected times. Due to limited bulk supply to the building the control system can switch non-essential loads to manage the maximum demand;
• Each floor is independently metered for on-going consumption management and landlord billing assistance;
• The choice of air conditioning was critical to manage costs and power consumption. Mitsubishi city multi VRF with inverter technology and McQuay units were employed. Inverters modulate the compressor speed and soft start features reduce the power consumption by 50%;
• The entire refrigerant is R410a, the most eco friendly “gas” world-wide, in keeping with Copenhagen & Montreal protocol to eliminate R22 refrigerants.
• Use of natural lighting.

The solar panels on the roof of the building

ENERGY PRODUCTION

Due to the building being so old, the costs were exorbitant for Eskom to increase the energy supply. Green Habitat provided a 30KWp solar panel solution to supply the majority of the power required. It has been synchronised with the municipal supply, reducing the usage and costs. The solar panels feed into a 30kw UPS that supplies the main functions of the building. It provides an uninterrupted power solution in the case of power cuts and eliminates the carbon footprint of a generator.

GENERAL

• We attempted to use South African products before importing as local products eliminates long distance transportation, which consumes more fossil fuels;
• The low maintenance finish will contribute to lowering the long term carbon loading of the building;
• The marmoran stone exterior finish is a product that will outlast paint and increase the time frame between re-application;
• Keeping within the original budget was another sustainable solution.

Other interesting features in the building included the open-plan philosophy for the office areas. The collaboration resulting from open-plan produces a better working environment. Flexible meeting rooms have been designed with slide-in wheeled desks, stackable chairs, a room divider, and multiple plug points.

The tenanted floors were designed to allow for flexibility for different sized offices that may be required and the office spaces have an industrial feel which is easy to modify for tenants.

The inner city vibe is evident throughout the building with the use of bright colours, the type of flooring, lighting, graffiti and  a retro look. The view of the surrounding city adds to the atmosphere.

Sound acoustics have been engaged to reduce noise pollution. This was accomplished through open sections of ceiling to trap the sound, recycled rubber tyre flooring in the Pause Areas, carpets, and the fabric on the dividing screens.

One of the Pause Areas for staff to relax with a cup of coffee

Shimwell Designs have enjoyed working on this project and have been encouraged by the responses of the guests on the tour. The mayoral representative stated in her speech that she was impressed with the eco friendly components in the building, making special mention of the rain water harvesting and uninterrupted power due to the solar panel system. The MEC was also encouraged by the lowering of the carbon footprint, joking that who would have thought that a union would pave the way in “greening” their facility.

Decrease up to 70% of your energy needs simple design principles that reduce lighting, heating and cooling needs – known as passive solar design.

• Orientate the longest side of your building to face north for light and sun. As the northern side of your house receives the most sun, the roof overhang should be longer (at least 40cm to 60cm) in length. Windows will be shaded in summer when the sun is high, allowing the sun’s rays through the windows in winter when the angle of the sun is low.
• Window shutters, awnings or screens shade rooms by keeping the sun out during summer.
• Natural materials (stone, timber, thatch and clay) obtained locally, are most suited to keeping the home cool in summer and warm in winter. Mud bricks are an excellent source of insulation.
• Floors made out of brick or concrete maintain comfortable temperatures in your house as they absorb heat during the day and release it slowly at night. These floors should not be covered with carpets as a concrete floor absorbs more heat than a floor covered by carpeting.
• Heat loss is ten times faster through glass windows than through insulated walls, so open the curtains during the day (let in the natural light and heat) and close them at night (keeps in the heat).
• Grow a deciduous creeper or tree over a veranda or yard. During summer, these leafy plants shade your house. When the leaves are lost during autumn, the bare tree lets the rays into the house (through the windows) during the colder months.
• Plant trees on the south, east and/or west of your home to provide shade during summer.
• A tin roof loses a lot of heat during the winter and gets very hot in summer. Insulate the roof and paint it white (reflects light and is therefore cooler) or use aluminium or other roofing materials.
• A ceiling and insulation in a small house can reduce your energy requirements by as much as 124kWh a month – saving roughly 10%.
• Install ceiling insulation fibre to keep your house cool in summer (reduces warm air conduction) and warm in winter (regulates the temperature of rooms and prevents heat loss).
• Ensure suitable ventilation for fresh air and cool breezes – rooms can be ventilated using airbricks, forced ventilation or by opening windows.
• Install efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems if required and ensure they are efficiently used. Be sure to shade the air conditioning unit outside with a tree.
• Install a solar water heater – these are relatively expensive but result in substantial savings on your electricity bill (water heating is the biggest part of most household’s electricity use profile).
• Install solar (photovoltaic) panels on the roof to provide electricity to run low consumption appliances such as the TV, radio, lights and fridge.
• Install energy efficient light bulbs throughout the house. These are usually more expensive than conventional incandescent light bulbs, but have a much longer life span and use far less electricity. They pay themselves back in a few months and are a very sound environmental choice.
• Used water or ‘grey water’ from sinks, baths and showers can be directed to water the garden.
• Rainwater can be harvested from the roof and stored, or channeled to the garden.
• Eco-friendly building materials can be used; including reclaimed wood, recycled/composite plastic, non-toxic eco-sensitive paints.
• Consider switching to green electricity. Green electricity is generated from renewable sources suchas wind, solar and wave power.

With 3 weeks to go before the handover of the newly refurbished JCB/McCarthey House, it is exciting to see the transformation of another inner city building, bringing business and good vibes back to the Joburg CBD.

Sustainable solutions in the building industry includes making use of existing structures where ever possible. Shimwell Designs and their project teams are focused on finding ways to reduce the carbon footprint of new office developments.

See the pics of what the newly renovated JCB/McCarthy House looked like before its transformation:

Peggy, Kim and Veronica inspect the solar panel installation progress at Eloff Street. These panels are connected in series and each bank is monitored at the inverter for thier supply ability.

Reception Area

Shimwell Designs recently completed an office refurbishment in Centurion. Great project, great client – completed on time and on budget!

Reception

The existing offices were spaced planned and designed and completed within 6 weeks.

Fun "pause area" for staff

A complete package:  as well as new furniture and screening, the office was designed with new dry walling, ceilings, carpets, lighting, electrics, wallpaper and paint.

Board Room

There’s a certain irony in building a straw house for a wolf to live in. I can envisage owners Stewart & Laura (and their pet wolf) gritting their teeth as I write this, as I am definately not the first and most certainly not the last to point out this contradiction, however the goal they have set themselves, to build an eco-friendly and energy efficient house out of straw bales is one that will not be achieved without a sense of humour at the very least.

Having followed their trials and tribulations over the past few months via their blog, I was most eager to see this house for myself, and when the opportunity presented itself to attend a workshop on site and learn first-hand how exactly a straw bale house is built, I leapt at the chance.

The workshop was hosted by Stewart and Laura on the site of the “Starflower Project” in Chartwell, and presented by Andy Horn, one of South Africa’s leading authorities on building with straw bales. The atmosphere was reminiscent of a good old-fashioned American barn raising, with the eager participants boasting an age span of 8 to 68.

During the two day course, we were shown how to build with bales, which is a lot more involved than one would imagine as each bale has to be measured, broken into smaller sections if required, and then re-tied to create a perfect fit.  When this has been done, each bale is “dipped” into a mud mixture before being re-fitted into the walls. Once in place they are staked with latte or bamboo poles. These bales will eventually be plastered with a lime plaster.

But why straw I can hear you ask.  The answer to this is quite simply – energy efficiency.  The insulating properties of straw are more than twice as much as brick.  This means you save in the long-run on both heating and cooling costs. With electricity costs on the rise, and supply of fossil fuels on the decrease, we are left with no option but to explore all methods of reducing our carbon footprint on our beautiful planet, and whilst this is certainly not the quickest way of building, and is definitely more labour intensive than building with bricks, the ongoing benefits of building with straw will far outweigh the ease and speed of building with conventional brick.

Jeanette Schulz

This is an exciting new Lynn Estates development in Lonehill. It’s been a very long wait as town planning departments took much longer than expected as they kept moving the goal posts and then there was a delay waiting for Eskom to supply power!

Crown Hill Properties, the developer, has moved heaven and earth to expedite the process and even undertaken work that Eskom were supposed to supply. We are now at the point where the builders can commence with construction of homes.

This property has a lovely position on the banks of the river. With that in mind the developers have included a landscaped ‘park’ with walkways and lighting along the river frontage for all owners to enjoy.

Shimwell Designs is delighted to be involved with a community project in
Limpopo , where we are part of a team that is donating  their professional
time towards building a new school for grade R – Grade 7.

The Nhlengelo School has only two classrooms. The balance of classes are held in the open air with even their kitchen simply positioned under a Marula Tree. As wonderful as this may seem to the tired city dweller, it is simply not workable for young people needing to be educated so they may have the opportunity to change their status in life.

The Shimwell Designs Team are motivated and excited  ”I have been taking
home ideas and dreaming of all the simple, beautiful and practical things
that could be designed” says Veronica Rex – Head of Architectural
Department.

Five years ago we worked on an exciting eco-sensitive projects in Timbavarti and we recently had the opportunity to go back to the eco-lodge to see how things were looking.

We found that the finishes are just as beautiful as they were five years ago. They have worn well over the years which is the important aspect when looking at a sustainable low maintenance solution.