PROJECTWATCH
PROPOSED, CURRENT AND FUTURE PROJECTS FROM SOUTH AFRICA AND ABROAD
PROJECTVIEW
DOUALA GRAND MALL, CAMEROON
A modern shopping mall, complete with convention centre and cinemas, will grace Cameroon’ s financial capital city of Douala by the end of 2019 – and South African turnkey specialist Raubex Renovo is making it happen. The € 45 million Douala Grand Mall is part of a larger development that will include a five-star hotel, offices and residential apartments being built in the near future. It will reportedly be Central Africa’ s largest mall when complete with a built floor area of 25,600m 2 including 18,732m 2 of lettable retail on its two levels. Importantly the mall is in the immediate vicinity of the international airport with a primary catchment of 1,5 million people. The ground floor of the complex will have 14,160m 2 of retail space while the first floor will house 11,520m 2 including a modern conference centre, cinemas, food court and retail space. There will also be underground parking in the basement. Earthworks commenced in January 2018 and handover is scheduled for November 2019.
104 OXFORD ROAD, ROSEBANK, JOHANNESBURG
MDS Architecture has designed a contemporary office building on a prominent site along Rosebank’ s busy Oxford Road for Ossero( Pty) Ltd. The building’ s final completion is anticipated by the end of November 2018.
The rectangular site is located along the Gautrain servitude and is positioned between Oxford Road and 9th Street, with the main access along 9th Street. The L-shaped building offers 6,300m 2 GLA and measures five storeys in height with four floors of basement parking. The top floor will comprise a clubhouse, gym and a landscaped roof garden.
Chad Sampson, MDS Architecture’ s partner in charge of the project, says,“ The client wanted the building to have maximum exposure along Oxford Road, and to incorporate the views to the east. Therefore the building’ s west and eastern façades were designed using a high performance double glazing, as well as large vertical screen walls and light weight steel balconies, which act as deep sunscreens, to assist with the shading.”
The building embraces natural materials such as fair face brickwork, steel, timber, concrete, living walls and black and white painted walls. Flush-jointed fair face brick is used as an architectural feature. Together with the steel and timber balconies and black exposed steel staircases, the building evokes a New York style loft aesthetic and a“ modern industrial chic” architectural language.
There are four parking basements, with the first level jutting up above the ground, forming a green base on which the main building sits( the base will incorporate a vertical garden of screens and creepers). The lift lobbies will be enclosed by a continuous south facing glass curtain wall, allowing maximum natural light into the common areas.
Developer: Ossero Quantity Surveyor: Norval Wentzel Steinberg Electrical Engineer: CKR Consulting Engineers Fire Consultants: Specialised Fire Technology
Architect: MDS Architecture Structural & Civil Engineer: L & S Consulting Mechanical Engineer: Graeme Page Consulting Engineers Main Contractor: Giuricich Bros Construction
12 Project Watch