African Design Magazine ADM #42 July 2018 | Page 40

LANSERIA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
A rendering of the Tower as viewed from above.
a concrete ‘tunnel’ (the stem of the tower)
with the three levels of office space at the
top of this stem. The control tower core
provides the vertical circulation for both
the occupants and the various services,
as well as housing a staircase and lift
shaft.
C+B was also instructed on the maximum
height that the tower could reach.
In the primary stages of the design
process, C+B worked closely with a
structural engineer to create a tower
built in steel. However, after lengthy
discussions, it was decided that a
concrete tower would be more practical
from a logistics and structural integrity
perspective. Von Solms explains that
due to very rigid CAA restrictions, the
use of cranes to erect the steelwork was
deemed impractical. “We were informed
that no crane may be on site for longer
than 48 hours at a time. This meant that
we would be constantly stopping and
starting with the erection work.”
The new design resulted in the casting of
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AFRICAN DESIGN MAGAZINE © | JULY 2018
“The rugged block with lightweight
framing became the whole language of
the architecture, blending seamlessly into
its surroundings. The actual layout of the
building as well as the angles of the glass
were dictated by aviation regulations.
It’s important to note that form most
definitely followed function in this design.
This is also true of the fire station as the
driving factor is how it links to the control
tower,” says Von Solms.
The project began in late 2015, with
the fire station being completed first
as it has to provide support to the
control tower. The entire project, which
comprises 1 662m 2 and used 210 000
tons of steel, 1 000 m 3 of concrete and
9 560km of electrical wiring, was finished
in February 2018.
Challenges
One of the biggest challenges occurred
late in the documentation phase when
the decision was made to change from