Click link on thumbnail.

More images...!

Cladding detail

Entrance plaza

Southwest elevation

.

Construction House affords two levels of basement parking, retail (ground) floor and 11 office floors of approximately 560 square meters each. With resonances of a Michael Graves style, the building does however take on a more African appearance which is more suited to its climate. It also features reduced and unique glazing systems and more earthly (African) colours. While the scaling of the tower has been well considered the design and relevance of the podium is not as apparent. It is out of scale with the rest of the design and when viewed from neighbouring heights is a distasteful slab above the retail space, from which a tower emerges. Concern for lighting the dark and gloomy food court and retail arcade could have been dealt with better.

The double glazing system consists of shadow-lite glass on the exterior to reflect a large proportion of the heat and ultra-violet rays and an inner clear glass skin which remains cooler, thus reducing heat gain and glare for the occupants. In tropical climates like Zimbabwe's, such hybrid systems make for substantial savings in air-conditioning and electrical (capital and maintenance) costs.

The building structure is conventional in-situ reinforced concrete with brick infill. The podium is liberally finished with polished local red granite without much concern for detail. The eastern side has an open courtyard, which features metallic sculptures of construction workers - in line with the construction theme of the building.

Ref. .

.

.

.

The Zimbabwe Engineer (February 1992)

.