Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa March/April 2014 | Page 28

The Cell C brand was
given centre stage in
the landscape design.
Elements like the custom
designed furniture,
innovative tree grids and
planting patterns were
extruded from the Cell
C logo and interpreted
into functioning
Landscape Architecture.

planting four rows of London plane trees along
the edges. The central connector was further
emphasized by projecting the pedestrian paving
pattern across the roadways cutting through the
boulevard.
A great level difference across the site
resulted in different podiums being created
for each building. This allowed for innovative
landscape solutions to render a serene,
connected picture. At the entrance to the
campus, neatly packed gabion structures were
used to offset the big level difference on either
side of the entrance road, and this created space
to plant trees and shrubs next to the entrance to
soften the retaining structures.

All the retaining walls were planted with
creeping groundcovers to green the walls.
On request from the CEO of Cell C , Mr Alan
Knot Graig, an impressive rose garden design
was incorporated along the internal roads in the
campus, to give explosive colour and fragrance.
Apart from the London Plane trees and the
Roses, most plant species that were used are
indigenous and water wise.
Courtyard
Included in the Main Campus Office Building
are three central courtyards. These courtyards
provide ample break-away spaces for office
workers during lunch hour. The courtyards were
designed as striking patterned environments
that are both visual and functional. Again,
branding was a strong focus on the design of
these courtyards, the custom concrete coping
was done in two colours to allow a C shape to
be seen on each of the circle planters from the
offices above.
Wetland
The wetland landscaping serves the purpose
of allowing people to enjoy the natural
surroundings next to the campus development.
Due to the fact that it is a pre-existing wetland
area, the design and execution were governed
by strict regulations regarding interventions and
use of material.
A permeable paving walkway meanders
through the natural veldt area with benches
along the way to give the opportunity to
enjoy nature.
The walkway leads to custom designed
bridges as stream crossings, which had to be
manufactured off-site and only assembled
on-site to limit the impact of construction on the

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Cell C Head Office