Paragon Interface have become a finalist in the Office Design category of the SBID International Design Awards 2018.

The SBID Awards is regarded as one of the most prestigious accolades in the interior design industry, representing talent and design excellence across all corners of the industry. Each entry undergoes an exclusive two-tier judging process by panels of leading industry experts for both technical content and aesthetic creativity as well as evaluating brief compliance, budget, health & safety, and fit-for-purpose design.

Paragon Interface‘s project “DISCOVERY PLACE” was selected by the technical panel of judges in the first stage of the process. The public are now invited to cast their votes for their favourite entries at www.sbidawards.com, as their votes will contribute towards the overall results. Last year, the awards received over 100,000 unique voters during the voting period.

CLICK HERE to show your support and vote for Paragon Interface‘s project.

The Office Design category is dedicated exclusively to office design. Entries had  to reflect how the concept creates a pleasant, efficient workspace that meets the needs of both the client and the employees who work in the space.

Entries for this category were received from countries such Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Ukraine, Dubai, China, Russia., Egypt and more.

Founder and CEO of SBID, Dr Vanessa Brady OBE says: “We have had an overwhelming number of entries this year from more countries than in previous, the calibre of finalists across all 14 categories, is a true reflection of the creative scope of the global design industry, depicting an international portfolio of projects from over 42 countries worldwide.”

Public voting will close on Friday 24 August at 5.00pm GMT; The winners will be announced and awarded with a bespoke crystal trophy designed by Sans Souchi glass deco at the official ceremony, held at The Dorchester hotel in London on Friday 26 October.

An Overall Winner will also be awarded for the project that gains the most votes overall from the judge’s choices and the public votes combined.

Judges this year include Directors and CEO’s from global design corporations such as Christian Louboutin Beauté, BBC, National History Museum, Belmond, Walpole, Bentley, Google, AECOM and more.

All winners and finalists will be featured in the Global Interior Design 2018 book which is distributed to over 1000 professionals across the globe.

The Paragon Group’s Founding Directors Henning Rasmuss and Anthony Orelowitz would like to inform all of its clients that it is in no way linked to, representative of, or associated with the company Paragon Interiors. This is a completely different and separate company that has absolutely no connection or affiliation with the Paragon Group.

“Paragon Interiors is an unrelated company. There has never been cross-shareholding or related interests between that company and any of the Paragon Group companies, its directors and shareholders,” Rasmuss comments.

The Paragon Group specialises in both architecture and interior architecture. It consists of Paragon Interface Architects, which is responsible for interior design and workspace planning, under Director Claire D’Adorante; Paragon Architects, led by Orelowitz and Rasmuss; and Paragon Architects South Africa, under Director Thulani Sibande, which was recently awarded a Level 1 Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment rating for 2018.

The Paragon Group is generally referred to as ‘Paragon’ in the media, and in the local property and construction industry, as an umbrella name for the diverse range of architecture and interior architecture services it offers. However, this in no way infers a connection to Paragon Interiors, a totally different company.

With reference to the article published in the Financial Mail of 12 July 2018 regarding Paragon Interiors and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), entitled ‘Has SAICA lost its way’, the Paragon Group categorically states that the allegations contained therein have no bearing on the Group, or its constituent companies, namely Paragon Interface, Paragon Architects, and Paragon Architects South Africa. SAICA is not, and has never been, a client of any of the Paragon Group companies.

The Paragon Group is one of the leading architecture and interior architecture practices in South Africa, and has been involved in some of the most iconic projects that are helping to redefine the ‘new’ Sandton financial and business hub.

The Paragon Group subscribes to the highest levels of business ethics and gender diversity. It is actively involved in skills development and training, and helping uplift the standard of debate in the local architectural community, in conjunction with a growing presence across Africa.

The payment of ‘incentives’ to clients, or the pursuance of financial benefit through supplier incentives, ‘discounts’, or ‘kickbacks’ is explicitly forbidden in all business contracts of the Paragon Group, and has never formed part of the income model of the Paragon Group companies.

Ends

Find out more about this project here.

Well-known for its landmark Sandton projects such as Sasol Place, the Discovery Campus, and the Alice Lane Precinct, Paragon Senior Project Architect Christiaan Liebenberg points out that Midway Industrial Park is equally iconic. Directly adjacent to the N1 highway, within the busy Samrand precinct, it is a site that not only slopes and exposes towards the highway, but also slopes towards the south, opening up very good views toward the building.

The unique design lines, feature compositions, striking colour contrasts, relief cladding surfaces, and varied surface textures make it stand out substantially in comparison to most industrial and warehouse buildings. “The idea was to purposely fragment the façade into strong design elements that not only unify the building, but also intentionally integrate services and minimise its visual mass,” Liebenberg elaborates.

The main aim was to maximise usage on the property for both warehouse space and delivery and dispatch facilities. Maximising the usable space internally and externally provides the most flexibility in terms of tenants that can be accommodated on the property, as well as facilitating well-designed front-of-house (FOH), back-of-house (BOH), administration and operations service, with increased access and functionality.

These main goals were achieved by relaxing building and servitude lines as much as legally permissible. In addition, the building height was maximised in accordance with the approved Site Development Plan, in order to accommodate tenants’ specific needs.

Due to the fall of the site, some drastic level changes had to be introduced, which could potentially limit the usage and flexibility required by the client. This was resolved by a calculated splitting of the building length into two parts, providing either two very large warehouse spaces, or two sets of two smaller spaces.

Stormwater drainage also posed a challenge, which was addressed through a combination of well-drained platforms, carefully-placed stormwater inlets, and a large stormwater attenuation pond on the south-western corner of the site. This attenuates the collected stormwater, reducing the water volume and speed at which the site’s stormwater enters the municipal and highway stormwater systems.

The masonry base of the façades intentionally incorporates functional requirements easily, but also minimise potential operational damage to the building’s sheeting. Due to the nature of the building’s use, using sheeting at lower levels will have meant a lot more maintenance and repair in the long term.

Large horizontal ventilation louvres on the south provide the required natural and smoke ventilation requirements, in conjunction with continuous slope- and ridge-mounted ventilators on top of the building. This allows for smoke ventilation, and assists greatly in cooling the warehouse spaces without the need for mechanical ventilation. Large polycarbonate sheeting regions on the south façade also provide for substantial daylight provision within the warehouse spaces.

To the north of the building, where the office components are housed, aluminium-framed windows and shopfronts have been used, with thermal-performance glazing throughout. To support the thermal performance of the glazing, horizontal shading devices have been positioned over all windows, large canopies placed over entrance shopfronts, and carefully-designed vertical shading louvres used on the large north-western glazed corner of the building.

Sanitaryware fittings such as basin taps, toilets, and showers are low-flow and low-usage fittings. Lighting in the office areas is either LED or low-wattage fittings, while the lighting in the large warehouse spaces is LED, and all mechanical equipment is energy-efficient. The building as a whole complies fully with SANS 10400 Part XA (Energy Efficiency) requirements.

Paragon assisted some of the tenants in checking their racking requirements in terms of space and structural limitations, as well as providing fit-out designs and integration with the building and its services. In addition, Paragon designed the interiors of the bathrooms and fire-escape stairs throughout the building. 

SAIA Awards 2018 - Pretoria

Our stunning projects continue to win some of the biggest awards in the industry, confirming our reputation as one of the most innovative architecture and interior architecture practices in South Africa.

We are proud to announce that Sasol Place scooped one out of five building Awards for Excellence, while Alice Lane 3 won an Award of Merit, at the prestigious SAIA Awards 2018 gala banquet held in Pretoria on Friday 4 May.

Well done to the Paragon teams who worked so hard on these iconic buildings!

Edwin Seda from Paragon Architects goes travelling with his camera. See his images here

140 West Street, Sandton, has received a 50 point evaluation by the GBCSA, which aligns with a 4 Star Green Star accreditation.  Read more about this project.

 Paragon won Architecture Firm of the Year and Best Overall Professional Services Firm of the Year, while Founding Director Henning Rasmuss was crowned Architecture Professional of the Year, at the South African Professional Services (SAPSA) Awards 2018, sponsored by Sanlam, at a gala dinner at Montecasino, Johannesburg on 1 February.

It is the third time that Sanlam has sponsored the SAPSA Awards, with the winners determined following a rigorous process based on strict criteria. There were winners in different fields drawn from four main categories, namely the built environment, commerce, law, and management. This is the second consecutive year that Paragon has walked away with the top architecture awards.

See the article here:  http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/paragon-clinches-three-major-ac...