Feature

Bank of Africa Tower crowned as tallest building in the black continent

Bank of Africa is a banking group that operates in 18 countries of the continent of Africa with one representative office in France, Paris. Bank of Africa is one of the major financial services providers in many countries in the continent of Africa. Formed in the year 1982, the bank is headquartered in Bamako, Mali.

Since the year 2010, the Bank of Africa is majority owned by the Bank of BMCE, the second largest private bank in Morocco. With ownership by Bank of BMCE, Bank of Africa has gained a lot of assistance in terms of operational and access so as to expand its business to Europe and Asia.

Located in Morocco

As a large financial service provider, the Bank of Africa will continue to demonstrate its existence. One of them is by constructing a new building in Rabat, Morocco.

This new building of the Bank of Africa is reportedly going to be the tallest building in the continent of Africa. It is evident that Africa was also more advanced in terms of development, leaving the impression of a poor continent.

The building was designed by architect Rafael de la Hoz and Judge Benjelloun. It is built by the construction firm BESIX Group and Travaux Generaux de Construction de Casablanca (TGCC).

The CEO of BESIX Group, Rik Vandenberghe mentions that he was proud of his construction firm to be involved in the construction of the new Bank of Africa building. It is also mentioned that this building will be one of the icons of Africa.

The design of Rafael de la Hoz and Judge Benjelloun is even targeting to be certified Gold LEED and HQE. No wonder the building meets the highest standards of international environment. BESIX Group also has a lot of technological innovations along with the beauty of building art. This new building will certainly be a magnificent, artsy, and environmentally friendly building.

The BESIX Group is a construction firm that has also been involved in other major projects in Africa and the Middle East. The results of the building include the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Grand Mosque of Sheikh Zayed in Abu Dhabi, and the Four Seasons Hotel in Manama, Bahrain.

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Othmane Benjelloun, CEO of BMCE Bank of Africa, stated that he believes in the skills and knowledge of BESIX Group in the construction of the Bank of Africa building. He also believed that they had the same goal that the building could later become the pride of Morocco and more broadly to be proud of the continent of Africa.

The height reaches 250 meters

The Bank of Africa building is planned to be built to a height of 250 meters or 820 feet. This altitude will beat the record of the tallest building in Africa previously held by Carlton Centre, with a height of 223 meters or 732 feet.

The development of a prospective landmark of the continent of Africa has begun last year on November 1, 2018. The plan, this construction will be completed on 30 May 2022. At the opening of the construction of the Bank of Africa building, Othmane Benjelloun also presented the model miniature of the prospective building.

Apparently Othman Benjelloun also wanted the building was named Mohamed VI Building as a tribute to the King of Morocco Mohamed VI. This is the case in the speech before the king.

Long before building construction, various geological, technical, and architectural studies have been conducted. This multidimensional study began with the first stone laying by King Mohamed VI on 9 March 2016.

Prospective building 55 This floor will not only be the office of Bank of Africa. The building will also contain luxury hotels, apartments, office areas, and a view terrace at the top. From the view terrace at the top of this building visitors can enjoy the city view around the building.

The design of the Bank of Africa building is planned to be seen from a distance of 50 kilometers for all sides. The area of this building itself is about 102,800 square meters. The outline of the building consists of towers placed on the podium. This design symbolizes the rocket on the basis of its launch.

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To accommodate the visitors needs of the building, a total of 40 elevators will be provided. 23 elevators will be built in the tower section, while the other 17 elevators will be built in the podium.

Resistant to natural disasters

As skyscrapers, the design of the Bank of Africa building was designed to withstand the power of strong winds and earthquakes. In addition, the building also has to withstand flooding that may occur as a result of the spit of Bouregreg River not far from the building.

For the strength of the building, on the façade or the façade consists of 70 percent of concrete nuclei and 30 percent steel structures. In the last few floors the building will also be fitted with a reducer system to withstand vibration.

As part of the developer’s commitment to realizing environmentally friendly buildings, in the south part of the building will be installed solar panels. In addition, building design will also be able to facilitate rainwater cycles and waste fluid processing. The warm water accessible to visitors is also obtained from the internal system of energy recovery in the building.

The construction of this building certainly cost less. Reportedly, the cost is about 314 million dollars.

Furthermore, the Bank of Africa building will be the center of the Bouregreg Valley development Project. In addition, the building became part of Rabat’s modernization program called Rabar Ville Lumière, Capitale Marocaine de la Culture (Rabat, City of Light, Moroccan Capital of Culture).

This large project also involves the development of several innovative facilities. Among them are Rabat Grand Theatre, the National Archives of the Kingdom of Morocco, and the archaeological Museum.