After a thorough selection process, the consortium of dhk Architects and Joshua and Joshua was appointed to proceed with sketch plans for the new Chemical Engineering Building at the University of Cape Town.

The design of the building was then refined through consultation with the subcommittee of the university building and development committee to ensure that the project would be contextually appropriate.

The chemical engineering department proved to be most enlightened, with an awareness of their role as a research facility, a learning facility and as a business interface with industry.

Externally and in terms of its massing, the form of the building blends with the existing campus layout, adhering to strict height controls, the use of hipped and pitched tiled roofs and the standard 'varsity' plastered walls.

The hipped section of the roof incorporates a full floor of office space. In response to the department's desire for an interactive working environment, the heart of the building features a central light atrium carrying vertical and horizontal circulation including a view lift.

Laboratories are massed in a spine along the Ring Road facade and are glazed internally to provide a visual connection across the atrium to the office spaces, which front onto the courtyard, and the views to the east.

A glazed break in the eastern facade of the building defines the entrance and also brings natural light into the atrium and the tearoom in the volume above.

The main contractors, Grinaker-LTA, in a joint venture with Boshard Construction, commenced construction in September 2002 and the project is due for completion in September this year.