| SD Bank Building | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Office building |
| Location | Koningstad, Cape Cross Parish |
| Construction started | August 1977 |
| Completion | February 1988 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 110 meters |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 28 |
| Elevators | 4 |
| Design and construction | |
| Owner | Various |
| Architect | |
| Constructor | |
The SD Bank Building is a 28 story, 110m tall building located in Koningstad's Business District. Built in 1988, it was briefly Brunant's tallest building before being overtaken by Janowicz Place in 1992[1]. The building has served as the headquarters for SD Bank since its completion, though it serves as offices for other companies such as Star Media, Poseidon Publishers, Limburger, Mavers and IDEA.
Construction[]
The SD Bank building was planned from the late 1970s as a large office tower, as there were yet no tall-enough buildings in the country to and Koningstad's Business District was crowding up significantly, thus raising land prices.
Plans for such a tall tower were drawn up in 1974-75, and with SD Bank heavily interested in the project it was decided to go ahead with the project. Getting city and government permission to build something this high was extremely difficult and only after significant considerations, public hearings and inquiries did they give the go-ahead in 1976.
The plan, which called for a 28-storey building met with significant opposition and difficulty in its construction. The groundbreaking took place in 1977 and work slowly begun, but in 1978 several issues came to face the construction.
Financial reports and studies concluded that the tower's cost would exceed previous estimates, and be up to three times as much. Investors were uncomfortable with providing more funds and construction was halted in October 1978, stalling the project. In 1980 Q Investments, owned by the Mounir family, expressed interest in the project and but took time in reviewing the project before compromising.
From 1982 the firm invested the equivalent of €30 million to acquire a majority 60% share of the building. The project was revived and construction resumed in 1983.
In February 1988, construction was completed. It was the tallest building in Brunant after its completion. The building held this record for a mere four years, as the nearby Janowicz Place, which began work in 1987 was already planned to be higher.