Located in Stellenbosch, this three-storey building provides agile workspace across 23,000 square meters to house Capitec’s 2,000 employees, with flexibility to double the headcount. Prior to this new building, which operates as the company’s HQ, Capitec was occupying numerous geographically dispersed offices resulting in poor employee connectivity between locations.
The building was designed to look and feel contemporary with a strong focus on environmental sustainability and employee wellbeing. Key elements of the design included wide open-plan floor plates that loop around a central triple-volume atrium, thereby taking advantage of the site’s panoramic 360° views and optimizing natural light. The floor plates are connected by a series of feature bridges and staircases that connect different departments and create opportunities for chance interactions. In addition, a linear-looped form is echoed in the façade via a ribbon of glazing that responds to the ever-changing orientation of the building.
Our structural and building engineering teams designed the building using BIM. We collaborated with a range of project stakeholders, for some of whom this was their first experience of BIM.