There was a thread for this before, which seems to be missing.

Well, the Tower was built in 1973, and in 2003 it was showing its age. Ugly exterior, faulty (and dangerous lifts), leaking pipes, faulty wiring, you name it. It was an unsafe, ugly and unfriendly building to work in.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/Civitas1.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/Civitas2.jpg

Now that is a thing of the past - and here we can see the new cladding going up. The building is almost finished now, this is one of Pule's older shots. Will try to drive past there today to get more pics.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u115/Puleza_2007/P1030261.jpg

Jakes, there's construction going on next to these building can you please get details for us if possible.

There is quite a lot happening around this site. Department of Health will occupy Civitas once completed. Department of Education will be building there head office next to it. And the superb New National Library is currently being finished right accross from Civitas. It will be awesome - 4F, but really a stunner! It is all part of the Re Kgabisa Tshwane project.

work is progressing
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00432.jpg

Cladding
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00429.jpg

Sharp corners
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00428.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00434.jpg

This old house will be incorporated into the precinct. the new department of education building is being constructed next to Civitas, and around this beauty.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00433.jpg

The new National Library
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00435.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00431.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00430.jpg

wow what a refurb wish they would do that in the joburg cbd but i love how there cleaning up the rest of the area thanks for the post

stunning ,lets hope it catches on as there are many CBD buildings all over the country that could do with this, think of ABSA in durbs and how well it came out
what would u refurb like this?

for me the transnet tower in Durban on smith st

for me it would be the carlton center mainly cause its the tallest building in sa and would look fab with a new look

Pictures of the upgrade
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00971.jpg

Its sleek, and I like the colour
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00970.jpg

Pretty rough neighbourhood, the new addition to the tower is up to 12F
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00972.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00974.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00973.jpg

stunning make over. I love aque green glass on a building and my Cairo project has simmilar colour in the facade

Looks awesome! thanx for the pics Jakes!

Hey Jakes, I was in PTA yesterday for about an hour...couldn't take plenty pics but I can see that there's more resturants and so forth around the city and not forgetting the cleanliness. Pretoria is beutiful.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/Puleza/Pretoria/P1060461.jpg

Man, she looks snazzy!

like a new baby! ah the wonders of cosmetic surgery, :lol:

like a new baby! ah the wonders of cosmetic surgery, :lol:


lol, cosmetic surgery does wonders DB. Hope more buidlings in our CBDs can follow the trend.

lol, cosmetic surgery does wonders DB. Hope more buidlings in our CBDs can follow the trend.

ah yes extreme maker over was the name of the show 2bad they didn't have a tv show for this building bt could u guys get a skyline pic of this as i would like to see how in looks like with the rest of the buildings in the background ps:

ah yes extreme maker over was the name of the show 2bad they didn't have a tv show for this building bt could u guys get a skyline pic of this as i would like to see how in looks like with the rest of the buildings in the background ps:

Will get it for you when I'm in Pretoria btu I'm not sure as to when I will go there.

I tried to get a shot of the building with the pretoria skyline. But from the Union Buildings it is too far to the left. And if you take a picture from the Voortrekker monument it hides behind the CBD. The best pics are from the Zoological Gardens.

Pretoria Skyline -without her cause she is too far on the right
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00975.jpg

The lonely right winger
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00984.jpg

Not a clear pic, but it was a hectic cold day - the civitas tower can be seen in the middle of the panorama
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00314-1.jpg

A lovely addition to the Pretoria skyline indeed. I love it!!

Beautiful.

dysan can u please add this to the projects thread for pretoria

I tried to get a shot of the building with the pretoria skyline. But from the Union Buildings it is too far to the left. And if you take a picture from the Voortrekker monument it hides behind the CBD. The best pics are from the Zoological Gardens.

Pretoria Skyline -without her cause she is too far on the right
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00975.jpg

The lonely right winger
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00984.jpg

Not a clear pic, but it was a hectic cold day - the civitas tower can be seen in the middle of the panorama
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00314-1.jpg

its a shame u cant see her from the union buildings but then again its made an impressive addition to the skyline :banana: u think they'll light it up at night once its completed ??

The Tower was built in 1973, and in 2003 it was showing its age. Ugly exterior, faulty (and dangerous lifts), leaking pipes, faulty wiring, you name it. It was an unsafe, ugly and unfriendly building to work in.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/Civitas1.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/Civitas2.jpg

Ugly exterior? Dangerous elevators? Leaky pipes? Faulty Wiring? If these problems intensified, you would have imploded the building! As part of the renovation, could they fix any of the problems you listed?

stripped to the core - new wiring, new plumbing, new lifts

the building was an empty shell once they cleared her out

From the other angle.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/Puleza/Pretoria/P1060690.jpg

whats the big gray block on top ?? a water tank ?

Me don't know.

whats the big gray block on top ?? a water tank ?


Could it possibly be the lift mechanism? I know they put in new lifts. Maybe that was the only way to incorporate them into the building?

or they might plan on using it for advertising then again this is a government building so ur probs right about the lift

Grinaker-LTA Building is a winner at best projects competition (2007-12-11)

At the 2007 awards presentation function held at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club, the Facades division was named the winner in the category for Specialist Suppliers and Sub-Contractors, for its Civitas refurbishment project.

The R40-million sub-contract on this 36-year-old skyscraper's facelift entailed the installation of 3 360 panels of glass, to clad the tower in Pretoria's CBD and give it a new, modern look. The new Civitas building's energy-efficient curtain wall has resulted in the building surpassing its target to reduce overall energy consumption by 24% on the air-conditioning side.

Grinaker-LTA Building also received a highly commended award and was named the runner-up in the Construction World Best Projects' category for building and civil engineering projects, for its R370-million contract for the construction of the new Maponya Mall. Located in Klipspruit, Soweto, the shopping centre boasts a world-class design and finishes.

.......sticking top right corner....

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x31/Upington/Gaonet/2173927183_d57935b425_b.jpg

looks good hey, love the colour.

Does the building still house the departments of Home Affairs and Health?

yes - health - not home affairs

Is the civitas Building renovation completed in full or are they still putting the finishing touches on it? I don't know much about the 12-story addition now.

keen to see up close completed pics- anyone???

The addition seems to be topping out at 10F. They might be going higher. And they need to up the streetscaping on the Bloed Street side. It looks a bit worse for wear.
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00304.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00305.jpg

The headquarters for the department of education is next door - think it will be 4F
http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00306.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa259/granova/DSC00308-1.jpg

Would love to see that on the carlton but with dark black glass like the Reservebank and a large wifi or other telecom mast on top with red lighting like the seers in the USA . The building must be imposing.

This is now covered in glass, looking beutiful and library is stunning.

Jakes, do you perhaps have any knowledge of what will happen to the nearby taxi rank which creates mass around that area. I actually think its an illigal taxi rank.

Bloed street taxi rank and mall is being upgraded - similar to metro mall in jozi cbd.

^^ those are great news. If only all taxi ranks were being run like Metro Mall. Is bloed street taxi rank the one that you can also reach via Van Der Walt Street?

yip

And it stretches all the way to the Zoo? If that the case then Pretoia would have got it right and they would just need to make sure that they have proper hawker stalls next to Sunny park as you heading towards the new police station.

Hi there...

I'm studying architecture and we received a project where we have to do an in-depth study about a chosen building tecnology. I chose to do mine on double skin glass facades in south africa.

I find it extremely difficult to find data on how economical these facades is in south africa. I would like to use the civitas building as a case study. Is there somewhere I can find out how the facade handles temperatures internally? Something like data charts or temperature monitors?

Please...