Sustainable Skyscrapers: The Standard Bank Centre, Johannesburg

Abstract

Over the last 20-30 years there has been a renewed interest in tall buildings and skyscrapers as symbols of growth, affluence and progress. The building and operation of this typology is highly resource-intensive and the failure to create sustainable buildings will have serious implications. The Standard Bank Centre in Johannesburg is one of a handful of ‘upside-down’ or hanging buildings in the world. It was designed to be a prestige symbol in a city that, at the time, was one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Johannesburg is situated on the edge of the world’s largest known gold reserve and the associated wealth lead to a city that grew rapidly. The main aim with the design of the building was to create a symbol of the success of its owners, as is the case with many of the skyscrapers constructed in recent times. While the building functioned as intended for a number of years, the owners started planning new accommodation within just seven years and eventually moved out of the building. Sadly, the building stands virtually deserted and derelict and studies have found that it will be very expensive to refurbish this iconic structure. There is a chance that all the energy (physical and human) that went into it may be lost. This is something that must be prevented, here and elsewhere. While the development of the building took place before sustainability or green design became an issue, a retrospective analysis will be undertaken in an effort to corroborate the principles of sustainable or green building and urban design. The aim is to determine if green design should play a role in sustainable investment, and what caused the unsustainability in this case, in order to prevent situations like this recurring in future skyscraper developments.

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