HENRY FAGAN & PARTNERS
Structural Engineering in Cape Town

Entry Processes (the number of processes running concurrently) Dube Canopy forms the public centerpiece of the Dube Tradeport Urban Development near King Shaka international airport in Durban, providing shade to the square below. The undulating gridshell’s form takes its cues from the forces acting on it, and the support geometry. This canopy is believed to be the first fully free-form steel and glass gridshell in Africa. The floors above are all post-tensioned, reducing both weight and cost. The project presented many challenges including difficult geology and founding conditions, significant groundwater and shrinkage considerations. Cape Town streets are not orientated north/south, compromising effective sun control. This also provides better view angles, particularly for the units that face across the narrow New Church Street. The building has been designed with a central core making provision for lifts, stairs and services to accommodate offices and/or living quarters. It also allows continuous and unobstructed views of the City and Table Mountain from the building. Parking is planned to have an innovative rotating floor disc system to better accommodate vehicles on the relatively small site. Located between established trees, this highly customised, simple but luxurious residence reflects its environment. Constructed largely from weathering steel and timber, the careful detailing took into account the vision of the client and architect as well as the limited access of the site. HF & P proposed a bridge design for the Nelson Mandela Bridge over the railways linking Braamfontein and Newtown in Central Johannesburg. HF & P felt that the site required a bold, sculptural solution from an architectural point of view, and that a cable-stayed bridge would not offer enough of a contrast from the clutter of railway masts, cables and tracks present on site. A variation on the design also included an enclosed space at the top of the tower to be used as a radio station or observatory. The design makes use of locally proven technology (incremental launching & post-tensioning) for a totally unique structure with no precedent anywhere in the world, all the while minimizing disruption to traffic during construction. Ultimately, the design came very close second to the winning cable-stayed bridge and was not chosen for construction.