The new five star green energy rated headquarters for the Tswane Manusipality which is to house the office of the mayor, city-manager, speaker chief whip and various other departments. Is reported to have cost R1,920,789,640 excluding VAT. The entire relocation for all city departments is expected to end on 12 June 2017.
The Office of the Executive Mayor and other City Departments have begun the major office relocation to the newly built City of Tshwane Headquarters called Tshwane House in the city centre. The Mayor, Speaker, Chief Whip, City Manager and other departments have started moving into this new building as at 02 June 2017.
The Executive Mayor of Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, expressed pleasure at the milestone: “This move gives effect to better coordination and effectiveness of City services as all departments will now be under one roof. Equally exciting is that the new budget and IDP have been approved and our work can now begin. It sure feels like a new a chapter altogether and we are looking forward to serving our residents under these renewed conditions”.
Msimanga said he was particularly looking forward to the centrally located Council Chamber: “It is a separate structure altogether, with its own iconographic, formal architecture that makes it recognisable as an iconic landmark. Tshwane House is indeed synonymous with the identity of city, where decisions about the city will be made, and the future of the city moulded” added Msimanga.
The new headquarters is one of the first government buildings to target a 5-Star Green Star SA certification within a public-private partnership (PPP). The building – on the site of the old Munitoria building – was designed to provide a comfortable, healthy and productive working environment for its occupants, with an overall environmental strategy encompassing transport, indoor environmental quality, energy, water and waste.
In March 1997, a wing of the old Munitoria building was destroyed by fire, and was never rebuilt. The intention with the new building was to consolidate office space for the City’s staff in a building that would provide adequate space for the City’s administrative processes and enhance the City’s service delivery capacity, in an environmentally conscious and socially cohesive structure.
The initial design incorporated a basement parking structure with a “citadel-type” building on top, accessed through a single doorway – a solution that did not engage the street or the public at all. Through an iterative process, a cost-effective design was revised by dropping the building to street level and creating a more pedestrian-friendly environment. The result is a rational and elegant, but not opulent building, and an economical structure with a very efficient use of floor plate area and facades.
A park has been incorporated on the eastern side of the site, which can be opened for public functions. This area provides space for a possible future extension to Tshwane House, which will be linked to the first phase by an interstitial corridor.
The fundamental components of the building are a new Council Chamber, efficient office space, and an environment that provides a pleasant and healthy workplace for staff members.
Employees contact details will remain the same, however, there will be a temporary interruption to phones and emails during the relocation process. The entire relocation for all city departments is expected to end on 12 June 2017.
Photo: Executive Mayor of Tswane
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