Project type: New entrance road and parking garage
Client: University of Pretoria
Project value: R 2,600,000
Project description: The erection of the new Parkade/Engineering Building, main entrance and upgrade of the adjacent Aula Building is the largest single construction project in the history of the University of Pretoria. The entrance and adjacent six storey building, feature four full-height external green screening panels, vertical planting strips in retaining walls and 20 large internal planters.
Careful planning went into the preservation of existing vegetation within this highly greened and treed campus, in order to protect the two historical avenues of fever trees and canary palms as well as the relocation of the entire succulent botanical garden. Here, all existing trees were identified and marked in order to ensure that few specimens were damaged or lost during the construction process.
Collaboration with the University, ensured continuity of campus design while interaction with the Botany Department ensured the extension of the Botanical Garden with a carefully developed planting palette and specimen planting sourced directly from the University’s green houses. In addition, an integrated irrigation design ensured that water is pumped from a basement storage tank that is filled with roof and seepage water and topped up with borehole water from an existing line adjacent to the building.