Fit for Purpose
The De Beers Group office for De Beers Sightholder Sales South Africa (DBSSSA) – the rough diamond sorting, valuation and sales arm of De Beers – has relocated to Sky Park Business Estate in Kempton Park, a site chosen specifically for its immediate proximity to OR Tambo International Airport. Falling under the Anglo American umbrella, De Beers is naturally fully aligned to the Group’s clear, stated commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. The design and operations of its new 5-Star Green Star Interiors V1-certified office space feeds directly towards this ambition. With the base build designed by Paragon Architects for Zenprop, and the interior by Paragon Interface for De Beers, the building has already been awarded 4-Star Green Star ratings for both Design and As Built by Green Building Council South Africa (2023).
In addition to these Green Star base building accreditations, DBSSSA then targeted the Green Star Interiors certification, which rewards the tenant’s design fit-out choices – a natural progression for the building. The intrinsic features of the base building design support their goal of a lower carbon footprint in their operation.
Deon Niekerk of De Beers is the Technical Services Manager of Sky Park Office, where the Group occupies 67% of the building. He was directly involved in the design of the base building, ensuring that every aspect of operations was accounted for in the overall design. “The Green Star Interior Fit Out accreditation is in line with our ongoing dedication to constantly interrogate our environmental impact and supports our goal to have a lower operational carbon footprint.”
Considered design
For De Beers, safety and security are significant drivers of design, alongside its demanding operational requirements. To accommodate these, the Sky Park Office building was essentially designed from the inside out. Kim Newell, Associate at Paragon Architects, explains: “It began with the interior design, and once finalised with Paragon Interface, we then collaboratively designed the building around those parameters.”
The dark, decorative brickwork on the exterior is mirrored on this interior feature wall, while lush green planting and natural materials provide visual appeal in the high-volume reception area.
The sophisticated, contemporary staff restaurant is a fresh and enticing counterpoint to the functional work zones. This deliberate design decision enables staff to leave exacting work behind and move into a very different, convivial environment.
Paragon Interface designed the first floor of Sky Park Offices as predominantly the operational floor, with a larger footprint than the ground level, which houses executive offices, the staff eatery/restaurant, and reception. The first floor’s exterior overhang provides shading for the ground floor, and all exposed first-floor windows are fitted with performance blinds to manage direct solar radiation, preventing heat gain in summer and containing warmth in winter.
“The interior design layout resulted in a particularly long and deep building,” says Newell, which presented challenges in terms of harnessing natural light. The nature of the building and its stringent security requirements meant the interior is quite cellular, which affects the distribution of natural light. We chose to position a corridor in the centre of the first floor, and introduced skylights to provide additional natural light. The layout of the office, along with Ener-G glazing with a VLT [visible light transmittance] of 35, allows 35% of the floor space to access good levels of natural light.”
Lighting is a critical component of the De Beers operation, particularly in the diamond sorting areas where brighter light is mandatory. Jacques Prinsloo, Associate at Paragon Interface, describes the long, complex process of designing numerous different types of sorting and equipment tables, which were extensively prototyped, then custom made: “These extremely sturdy steel tables with smooth granite tops – many upholstered in felt – were locally manufactured, each with their own specific lights that plug into each table.”
Alison Groves, Discipline Lead: Built Ecology at WSP, was the Accredited Professional on the project. Her visual impression of the building was that “it disappears”: “It’s there – you can see it, but it’s black, very discreet and blends into the landscape. The building is low-rise – ground and first floor – no underground parking, all on the surface, with the parking now covered by solar PV.” The structure is concrete, with a painted, decorative brick facade. The roof is insulated using Isover Factoryboard, installed below the soffit.
Feature waves and curves of timber panelling in the corridors create pockets of interest in the building.
Live planting throughout the building not only introduces green accents, but also softens spaces and connects staff to the environment.
De Beer’s corporate colour of blue is used quietly throughout the building’s breakaway, public, production and office spaces.
Green labels
The move from DBSSSA’s previous office in Kimberley to Sky Park was for operational reasons, and by reutilising much of their furniture, scored well in that category. Groves explains: “De Beers reused a great deal of their high-end furniture, particularly their globally acclaimed, ergonomic Herman Miller Aeron chairs. Reusing or repurposing furniture and equipment is a massive offset of carbon emissions. These chairs have a long warranty, very extensive guarantee, and have been maintained by the manufacturers on an ongoing basis. That contributed significantly to reducing the embodied carbon of De Beer’s interior fit-out.”
She adds, “For new furniture and materials used to construct the internal fit-out such as flooring, ceiling, partitions and wall finishes, the team selected products manufactured to a higher sustainability level, preferring ones that carry internationally recognised eco-labels. If a product carries an eco-label – such as Green Tag – you know it has gone through a stringent sustainability-check process – it’s ISO 14001-manufactured, has good warranties, uses recycled products, is recyclable and has other longevity attributes. The eco-label does all the vetting of the product for you. When there aren’t eco-labels to simplify the process, each one of these sustainability measures must be interrogated when making your procurement decisions.”
Flooring in the De Beers building not only had to comply with sustainability imperatives, but crucially, the carpet specifications in the diamond sorting areas were also stringent – if a diamond falls to the floor, it should be easily visible and swiftly retrieved. Groves says: “Paragon Interface specified Shaw Contract Dye Lab Indigo carpet tiles specifically for their high-density cut pile and colour to meet these technical requirements, with Desso Iconic EcoBase carpet tiles in the general office space. Gerflor Taralay vinyl flooring was used in the IT rooms, and all three flooring types came with green labels, which contributed to the marks for the Interior Fit-Out accreditation.”
Resource efficiency
“In terms of energy performance,” says Groves, “the building did very well. For air-conditioning and heating, each tenant has its own dedicated variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system, which offers a high level of energy efficiency and control of thermal comfort. This is coupled with excellent levels of fresh air, where rates exceed 66% above minimum legislated standards. High oxygen levels support increased mental alertness, and improve wellness by diluting possible airborne germs and contaminants.”
In the office space, the highly efficient LED lamps were designed to achieve a lighting power density of less than 1.5W/m² per 100Lux. The open-plan office lighting, as well as other spaces such as the kitchen, canteen, storerooms, vaults and circulation areas are controlled via automatic occupancy sensors, thereby limiting energy wastage by automatically switching off lights when there is no one in the space. In addition, no switching zone exceeds 100m2, helping the building to systematically switch off lighting as people vacate the office.
One of the innovation credits garnered by De Beers was the photovoltaic (PV) installation, sized to provide an annual production of 732.8MWh. The base building comes without the PV, and it was installed and paid for by the tenant, De Beers. This addition represented a significant reduction in the grid-supplied operating energy. “Our modelling shows that an average building would consume 151kWh/m2/year, generating an equivalent to 98.2kgCO2/m2/year. With the efficiencies of the building and the renewable energy installation, the project will generate -84.3kgCO2/m2/year.”
Building Tuning
“This decision to optimise energy efficiency went way beyond installing an excellent system. One might assume that if a building is designed as a highly efficient machine, that it will automatically perform optimally. Zenprop, on behalf of De Beers, carried out an extensive Building Tuning process. Sky Park building is highly metered, showing consumption of everything from water and lights to bulk/small/AC power and more. It’s possible to isolate the lighting, power, a single floor, or even one tenant. We’re able to download all monthly readings over the first year of operations – and from the picture that the reports provide, we’re able to see precisely how the building performs; essentially, how it’s being used by the occupants. With this in-depth interrogation of systems, we were able to identify anomalies and ensure that those systems were adjusted and reprogrammed to improve efficiencies.”
Groves mentions that the success of the Building Tuning process was that: “The Covid pandemic resulted in shortages of equipment, most notably meters. We were constantly reminded by the process to source those meters so that the building performs optimally. The meters are a very important ongoing tool to assist in ensuring a green building remains a very sustainable one.”
A simple and easy-to-read Building Users’ Guide was developed to provide information and guidance to building users, occupants and tenants’ representatives on every aspect of the building’s operation, including the contribution they could make to improving the building’s efficiency. De Beers developed a unique waste management plan for industrial and normal office waste, integral to which was security of the products with which they deal. From staff to external service providers, there was a “relearning” process of where waste goes, how it goes, and how to think differently about it. This waste-management plan ultimately became part of a fresh way for all to think about and dispose of waste.
Lighting throughout the building is extremely important, whether it’s as much glazing as possible to introduce natural light, lights powered by the vast solar installation, or large interior glass walls, doors and windows.
Everyone plays a part
Green buildings are a significant driver for occupants to feel like they’re contributing to a company that makes a difference. As Groves says, “People realise they are part of the solution of reducing their carbon footprint. It’s not something outside of yourself managed by others – your actions make you integral to the solution. The operators of the building are the staff, and it becomes a collaborative approach to sustainability.”
“The building is a fine balance between functionality and aesthetics,” says Niekerk. The highly specialised De Beers building achieved the goal of the interior fit-out creating a luxurious environment to greet clients, while simultaneously complementing the operational requirements of the space by providing a healthy and comfortable environment for staff.”
