Situated on Carl Cronje Drive at the entrance of the Tyger Falls precinct in the Tyger Valley business district, The Edge comprises 10 000m² of corporate office and retail space
Financial services firm PSG Konsult and its subsidiary Western National are the first tenants to occupy the newly built nine-storey commercial building, The Edge. The building has been carefully designed to greatly reduce its carbon footprint and is targeting a 5-Star Green Building Council of South Africa ‘design’ and ‘as built’ rating.
“We are pleased to be the first tenants in this exceptional new space and find it to be the perfect new home for our head office,” says Niraj Gudka, Chief Operating Officer of PSG Konsult. “The Edge provides a comfortable, efficient working space that is also eco-friendly.”
Situated on Carl Cronje Drive at the entrance of the Tyger Falls precinct in the Tyger Valley business district, The Edge comprises 10 000m² of corporate office and retail space.
The building has a host of energy efficient features, such as its specially designed HVAC system (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning), rainwater harvesting for grey water use, its lighting system (which operates based on daylight and occupancy levels) and energy saving lifts. Additionally, the materials used to construct The Edge include concrete containing pulverised fly ash which reduces its embodied energy, as well as sustainable timber that is either FSC certified, re-used or re-cycled.
Modern convenience sees the inclusion of a standby-generator with capacity for emergency lighting in the entire building as well as power for one computer per workstation in all offices. Fibre optic connectivity is also in place.
The Edge boasts beautiful views of the former-quarry and now Tyger Waterfront lake, as well as the distant Durbanville Hills and Boland mountains. It blends in with its environment, making use of the lake for both heat-rejection in summer and heat absorption in winter. The materials used in the landscaping complement those of the building in colour and form, and the rocks used for the garden walls are similar to those mined in the old quarry. The landscaping facilitates the sustainable processes of water recycling and natural ventilation of the basement, while the water feature system of fountains and the leivoor channel cools and transports recycled water back to the lake, and recreates the Elsieskraal River that flowed across the site historically. The surrounding indigenous vegetation reduces irrigation water demand by 90%.
The office space has high ceilings and caters to the needs of the tenants. “We chose to have a mostly open-plan layout with smaller areas dedicated to private work rooms, meeting points and offices, to optimise employee efficiency and comfort,” Gudka adds. “There is also ample parking available for both our staff and visitors.”
A system of pathways links Carl Cronje Road with the building and the quarry boardwalk which features restaurants, shops and residential space. “We are very well situated in this business district,” says Gudka.
Ian Odendaal, CEO of Omnicape Investments, had his forward-thinking vision for a 5 star green building brought to life by award winning BAM Architects and a team of esteemed professionals including OvP Associates, who are responsible for the attractive and eco-friendly landscape architecture.
PSG Konsult’s head office and Western occupied the space from July 2015.
