Construction has started on a three-storey four-star green office block in the R6-billion Baywest City development.

The office block inside the Baywest City precinct, in Port Elizabeth’s western suburbs, signalled the wide-ranging roll out of development at the precinct, which included 2 000 residential opportunities, office and commercial space, light industry, a private school, a hospital and a hotel.

The building, which was expected to open towards the end of 2016, was the first green-rated commercial office block for the Eastern Cape. The only other green-rated projects in the province, classified as “public and education buildings” by the Green Building Council of South Africa, included the five-star National English Literary Museum, in Grahamstown, and the four-star Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Business School.

The new office block would have an aluminium façade, which would mimic the outline of the Port Elizabeth coastline.

Architecture firm Activate project director Edward Brooks added that the demand for green-rated buildings had grown globally.

“These sorts of developments are generally more pleasant to work in and tend to attract higher-end tenants. Demand has grown among the high business user category. It might come with a greater capital outlay of between 5% and 20%, but one needs to look at the landscape of electricity scarcity and the energy savings the building will make over time,” he said.

The office block would boast a 40 kW roof-mounted solar photovoltaic system, a rainwater harvesting system and highly insulated walls, roofing and flooring to maintain a moderate internal temperature in spite of fluctuating external temperatures.

The solar system would provide 15% of the building’s energy requirements. Further, as a requirement for the green rating, basement parking would give preference to bicycles, motorcycles and energy-efficient hybrid vehicles.

An indigenous landscaped garden around the building would be maintained using harvested rainwater.

Baywest City MD Gavin Blows noted that the green office block was the first of many to be developed in the precinct.

He added that the developers were focused on positioning the development as eco-friendly, having set aside 20% of the 320 ha Baywest City site for the protection of rare and indigenous fauna and flora.

“There is immense interest in developments of this calibre. Port Elizabeth has nowhere else to grow but into the western suburbs, which is why Baywest City is ideally located for the future of the city.”

Further, a landmark deal between Baywest and Vodacom had seen the installation of the country’s largest greenfield fibre-optic network, securing Baywest City’s future as an interconnected smart city.