South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) has awarded BP Africa's corporate head office at the V&A Waterfront top honours in the category of Office Developments, at the association's Awards for Excellence in Property Development 2005 during their annual conventional in Sun City.

In recognition of the importance of property development to the economy and the community in which it serves, Sapoa annually honours developers and owners who, through the quality of their products, have contributed to the enhancement of the property industry.

"We are delighted that BP Africa chose the V&A Waterfront to develop this incredible project," said Derick van der Merwe, Managing Director of Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (Pty). "Our professional team did everything in their power to make sure this building delivered in terms of innovation and energy-efficiency. It is encouraging that our efforts have been recognised and trust that many more companies follow this excellent example of cutting-edge design."

And it is this innovation that won them the award. "Both ourselves and the V&A Waterfront put an enormous amount of effort into the development of this building and we can honestly say we have taken innovation, performance, progressive thinking and greening to another level," said Rubin Pather, BP's Regional General Manager for Africa and the Middle East: Properties and Services. "While we most certainly did not set out to win the award, it has served to confirm it was worth all the effort that went into this project."

Architect Pedro Ross of Studio Kruger Roos, in collaboration with Joshua Conrad Architects, headed up the project team that designed this incredible structure. "Winning this award counters the notion that passive energy buildings are cost-prohibitive," he said. "Building costs fell within five per cent of what traditional buildings cost to build. This will go a long way to prove that buildings that live off green energy are affordable and viable."

Examples of the innovation employed include cutting-edge façade designs that shade the building from the sun whilst simultaneously letting in copious amounts of natural daylight into the offices. This enables the structure to make extensive use of natural fresh air for ventilation -- resulting in minimal air-conditioning. It also creates a naturally well-lit building, which coupled with the development's dynamic lighting control system, dramatically cuts down on the use of electricity. Rainwater and water from basins and sinks is harvested and used for irrigating the landscaping and flushing the loos, which means the city's precious water supply is hardly ever needed.