The South African Property Owners’ Association (SAPOA) has named 1 Discovery Place, the new head offices of the Discovery Group in Sandton, Johannesburg, as its overall winner in the 2019 SAPOA Property Development Awards for Innovative Excellence, and has also bestowed its 2019 award for “Best Interiors” to the acclaimed building for which KBAC Flooring supplied and installed 60 000m2 of flooring.
KBAC Flooring, currently in its 50th year of operations, also supplied and fitted the flooring for two other SAPOA category award winners: the SAPOA 2019 “Overall Transformation” award for the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC2) project; and the SAPOA 2019 “Refurbishment” award for 33 Baker Street in Rosebank, Johannesburg.
The imposing SAPOA overall award-winner, 1 Discovery Place, on the corner of Rivonia Road and Katherine Street, comprises three linked office towers each featuring a ground floor, eight office floors, and a roof level to house Discovery’s gym and sports facilities. Designed by Boogertman + Partners for the building’s joint owners, Growthpoint and Zenprop, with interiors specified by Paragon Interface, 1 Discovery Place is the largest new building certified by the Green Building Council of SA and has received a five-star Green Star rating.
The SAPOA honour for 2019 Best Interior is another feather in the cap of Paragon Interface who specified KBAC flooring for 1 Discovery Place. The company was also named as 2018 Office Design Winner for 1 Discovery Place interiors at the Society of British and Interior (SBID) Design Awards presented in London.
KBAC Flooring’s sustainable and carbon-neutral Interface modular flooring dominates the 1 Discovery Place interiors designed by Claire A’Dorante and her design team at Paragon Interface. KBAC, the sole Interface distributor in Southern Africa, supplied and installed the following Interface flooring:
* Interface Composure: ideal for large-scaled installations to create non-directional, tranquil office interiors with subtle formations of rock and stone;
* Interface Net Effect One: a collection inspired by the ocean – from its depths to the sun- and salt-bleached wood and stones on the shore;
* Interface Urban Retreat 501: a dynamic collection of carpet tiles that range from refined textures to broad organic forms;
* Interface Touch & Tones: modular carpet tiles ideal for creating zones for specific moods and to change the office scene or serve as directional installations; and
* Interface Heuga 530: ultra-durable tufted plain texture loop pile flooring available in 24 colours, including bright accents for detail.
Co-designer of the interiors of the acclaimed new Discovery head offices, Paragon Interface’s Anthony Karam, says: “The dynamic use of colours and textures is drawn from Discovery’s own corporate identity and conceptually drives the way through the eight levels of the Discovery campus building. We carefully selected the floor finishes to enrich the diverse user experience and deliver a memorable aesthetic throughout the building.”
To create an environment centred on staff health and well-being, Paragon Interface incorporated both active and calm environments, formally structured throughout the building. The typical office floor plates are designed for activity-based working to enhance collaboration and business efficiency. The 1 Discovery Place installation is another example of the beneficial impact created in offices by Interface’s +Positive Spaces initiative which, when applied to the built space, creates happier people and a healthier planet.
By Jan de Beer.
