52 KATHERINE STREET, SANDTON
As if designing the award-winning Sasol
Place on a curving site in Katherine Street,
Sandton was not enough of a challenge for
the Paragon Group; client Alchemy Properties
tasked it to design a clearly-differentiated
building at 52 Katherine Street, directly in
front of the iconic Sasol headquarters.
The 5,251m 2 P-grade office development
is located at the corner of Katherine Street
and Albertyn Avenue in the Sandton CBD,
which gives it the advantage of a strong
street-facing presence. An integral part
of the rapidly-developing Katherine Street
Development Node, it enjoys close proximity
to Sandton City, the retail floor at Discovery
and several significant arterial roadways
and highways.
The corner is dominated by Sasol Place,
which has a high basement both to the west
and south. “We had to create a design that
was very different from Sasol, bearing in
mind that 52 Katherine Street itself was only
three storeys and has Sasol basements as
it backdrop. Hence the main challenge was
to design a building that did not, on the one
hand, obstruct or take away from Sasol
Place, but was able to have its own distinct
identity,” explains Paragon Group Director
Anthony Orelowitz.
“It is a difficult piece of land to develop
because it is quite a sloping site. We
selected a pallet of materials, which were
quite different from the complex glass
façade of Sasol Place. We chose to clad
the façade with large porcelain tiles which
were 3,000x1,500mm in size. These
tiles look like Blanco and Nero marble,
creating a contrast against the Sasol
basements and differentiating the design,”
adds Orelowitz.
The marble and aluminium over-clad
structure weaves at each storey, undulating
and creating balconies and overhangs. Three
landscaped courtyards allow light and air to
penetrate the floor plate. Large openable fullheight
windows allow user-driven habitation,
natural ventilation and abundance of light into
the workspace.
“The courtyards were planned specifically
to maximise the light on the western and
southern aspects,” highlights Orelowitz. The
result was a building that is quite distinctive
from many of Paragons designs.
The professional team includes Leadcon
Civils, Orion Project Managers and
Trencon Construction.
Project Watch 19