African Design Magazine April 2015 | Page 27

African project: Nando’s Central Kitchen Onepointzero and ASM Architects – with the input of over 50 local designers and craftspeople – have designed a new workplace and HQ for worldwide restaurant group Nando’s which is located in Johannesburg, South Africa. T he collective ramshackle factories, buildings and warehouses that comprised the original home and headquarters of Nando’s were recently given an exciting, transformative makeover. What was once the humble sauce bottling plant of this South African food and restaurant giant, is now a contemporary, cohesive and truly Africaninspired precinct accommodating Nando’s worldwide licensing offices, trading offices, training facilities among other department campuses. With Onepointzero having been awarded the interior design contract, the gentrification of the existing offices and distribution warehouse in Lorentzville, Johannesburg, has seen a new identity emerging for the brand that is as authentically modern African as it is cosmopolitan. sustainable materials has been pivotal to the build”. A project that has taken 18 months to complete, has reached beyond its monetary investment and square meterage of 7 500m2 plus, and has firmly cemented Nando’s as an iconic heritage landmark on South African soil. From office and legal space to an in house gym, restaurant and culinary invention centre, Nando’s continues to provide not only customer satisfaction through its ongoing food and beverage supply chain, but a sampling o