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Telephone Exchange Building
Sea Point, Cape Town, Western Cape
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Click to view large map Coordinates: | 'A connoisseurs building with walls of only one material which constitutes an interesting reaction to the fashion of using too many different materials for modern buildings. It projects an uncommonly conservative image whose appeal is not obvious' (Greig, 1971: 219) Brick facing in contemporary architecture The recently completed G.P.O. Automatic Telephone Exchange in Sea Point, Cape Town, is a superb example of the technique of brick facing in contemporary architecture. The consistent use of brick facing throughout the building has provided it with a homogenic character which is appealing to the eye. Combining classical simplicity, dignity and restraint, the building won for its architects, Kantorowich and Skacel, the coveted CPI Bronze Medal of the Cape Provincial Institute Of South African Architects, as an institutional building of "considerable architectural merit." The Institute's selection committee, unanimous in its choice for the award, commented: "As architecture, it is an integrated whole consisting of well-proportioned and well-related parts. The skillful use of face brick results in a durable finish which is nevertheless light and fresh in appearance." Inside the R243,000 building, the new main exchange unit being installed on the first floor will have an initial capacity of 2,900 lines and this will later be extended to 10,000 lines. Provision is being made on the second floor for another 10,000 line unit — sufficient to meet the requirements of residents in the Sea Point area, between Portswood Road and Clifton, for many years. This building was the last work in the country by the architects. Mr. R. H. KANTOROWICH has accepted the Chair of Town and Country Planning at Manchester University. His partner, Mr. G. H. SKACEL, and Mr. M. C. Schonegevel, senior architectural assistant, have joined him there as lecturers. For most of the buildings he designed in South Africa, brick was Mr. Kantorowich's personal choice as a facing material. He felt that, under the economic conditions of this country, it was the most reasonable choice; labour and material are comparatively inexpensive and maintenance requirements virtually nil, while the low cost of bricks as a facing material enables the architect to obtain a better balance in the proportion of funds available for erection of a building to be spent on interior and exterior finish. The Sea Point building is an excellent illustration of Mr. Kantorowich's approach to the refinement of brick detail. He developed a technique of brickwork through several successive buildings, including Broadway on the Foreshore, Federated House in the centre of Cape Town, Baxter Hall (Women's Residence) at the University of Cape Town, the Milnerton High School and the Fish Hoek Town Hall. The telephone exchange clearly shows his technique of detailing the building to suit the brick facing — with the structural module of the building based upon the brick module. This meant that the bricks had to be burnt to very close tolerances — to within 21 per cent. A very carefully worked out bond was also necessary to ensure dignity of appearance. The utmost care and supervision was called for in bricklaying, but in no case was it left to the bricklayer to determine the position of the bricks or the bonding. Working on a 21 in. horizontal module, with the size of the brick determining the vertical module, the position of each brick and the bonding for each portion of the brickwork, was worked out in advance and detailed as part of the design. Only 65 different sizes and shapes of brick, totaling about 250,000 bricks, were used. NO bricks were permitted to be cut on site. All bricks were burnt from the same clay and as nearly as possible to the same colour, a biscuit buff, and all were completed before a single brick was laid so that any slight variation in colour would be taken up in the run of bricklaying. This included not only the special bricks, such as three-quarter bats and quarter bats, but also the extruded clay screen blocks used to form the grille on the ground floor at the front of the building. The oblong octagonal blocks for this grille were extruded with a die specially made for the purpose. The painstaking attention to brick detail gives the telephone exchange a wonderfully uniform overall colour with contrasting textures caused by the use and positioning of different shapes and sizes of bricks. Apart from the grille, this contrast is provided on the face of the building by the window spandrels (the brick panels immediately below each of the aluminium windows) which consist of two-inch brick, as opposed to the three-inch brick that forms the bulk of the facing. Further contrast of light and shade is furnished on the sides of the building where special splayed bricks have been used for vertical fins which act as sun louvres. The only departure from the overall one-colour, multi-textured effect of the building is a tasteful bronze frieze depicting "Telecommunications" over the entrance, by the South African artist, Miss Eleanor Esmonde-White. While retaining an aesthetic appeal, the new building suits its purpose admirably and meets all the planning requirements of a telephone exchange. It will undoubtedly stand the test of time. (Source: Journal of the South African Brick Association 2/1963) References:
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