Architect and Builder August/September 2019 | Page 78

Sable Park, Century City
COMMERCIAL OFFICE DEVELOPMENTS
Rabie Property Group set out to create an iconic front
face for their blossoming mixed-use precinct. Sitting on the
edge of Sable Road, a prominent entry point into Century
City, the development would form a gateway landmark
for ‘Bridgeways Precinct’. This new neighbourhood
comprises a mix of lifestyle and commercial functions,
creating a 24-hour atmosphere and a solid context for
new office and residential complexes.
The building’s composition was inspired by shuffling
forms that operate independently and adapt to their
immediate surroundings. Originally dubbed; the ‘macro-
chip shuffle’, the building was designed to appear as a
single large complex and simultaneously as four small
independent volumes in symphony – depending on where
it is viewed from. The four volumes are further broken
down into thirds; a double height layered mass and a single
height crystalline cube. Each of these thirds shift and jump
on the horizontal and vertical plain to achieve maximum
views and optimal orientation.
On an abstract level, the spaces are duplicated, and
the volumes are inverted. This simple application was
the singular method to the complexity of the resultant
macro-articulation which forms a setting for a series of
tableaux with an iconic mountain backdrop. In effect, this
complex was set out in scenes that take inspiration from
aspects of cinematography and film.
Design
Sable Park is a pair of twin blocks orientated inwards to
Bridgeways Road where both entrances are located. Each
of the buildings is split into two wings separated by a large
quadruple volume. These two spaces are connected by a
series of bridges spanning across the atrium at the edge
of the main core. The core was conceived as a parody of a
‘service block’ and was satirically designed as a large solid
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concrete cube, shoved between the two glass wings. It is
a stand-alone element which is exposed on both sides of
the building. From the rear this concrete cube protrudes
and is visible from over a kilometre away. On the front
end at the foyer, it is clad in oak timber panels, with the
lift doors visible from the street and neighbouring blocks.
It forms the proverbial heart of the building, circulating
people left to right, up and down and into different
chambers in the building.
To the right of the atrium, the concrete cube is
completely separated from the office wing, leaving a large
open slot that cuts through the building connecting the
front to the back and creating a significant visual vista of
Table Mountain in the distance. This space along with a
first-floor lounge are just some of the many pause points
designed in the building to facilitate human interaction.
There are a series of terraces on all four sides of both
blocks that were designed as winter and summer gardens.
These five gardens were carefully positioned to integrate
with the overall form while being independent spaces
relating to specific parts of the precinct, creating optimal
outdoor lounges for all seasons.
The building mass expresses different characteristics
from different vantage points. Viewed from Sable Road to
the south, the blocks take on a sober, linear articulation,
maximising the views of the mountain and creating a
robust edge to the road. From within the precinct on the
north end, the masses all shift and turn moving towards
and away from the site boundary, creating a more
permeable edge and resulting in a series of habitable
forecourts that encourage pedestrian activity.
Client: Rabie Property Group
Project Manager: Cogent
Architect: dhk
SAPOA Awards