Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa November/December 2013 | Page 11

WANTED: A NEW FACE FOR CAPE TOWN’S LANDMARK MEDIA BUILDING
Media24 is partnering with Cape Town
Design NPC to launch a competition
for interested parties in South Africa,
from architects, graphic designers and
urban planners to innovators and novice
artists, to submit design proposals to
reimagine the façade of its head office, the
landmark Naspers Centre, on Cape Town’s
Foreshore.
Built in 1962, the building was the tallest
in Africa at the time. At 26 storeys, it is still a
prominent feature of Cape Town’s skyline.
With Cape Town’s designation as World
Design Capital 2014, the media company is
using the city’s year of design as a chance
to redesign the building’s exterior. For the
competition, Media24 provides a blank
canvas to South Africa’s brightest minds
to inspire creative thinking and pioneer
design innovation.
Esmaré Weideman, CEO of Media24,
says the competition is a chance to bring
new life to the city’s oldest skyscraper and
contribute to the continued expansion of

the Foreshore precinct and the city as a
whole. “Cape Town’s Foreshore, and the
rest of the city, is changing dramatically,”
says Weideman. “This is our opportunity
to use the principles of sustainable design
to transform a landmark building at the
centre of the area, and to celebrate the
innovation and design thinking that has
led the development of Cape Town’s
creative economy. What’s more, this is a
great opportunity to participate in the
rebranding of Media24 as a funky, on-themove media company.”
Alayne Reesberg, CEO of Cape Town
Design NPC, the implementation company
driving the World Design Capital 2014
programme, hopes the competition will
attract design ideas from South Africa’s
leading and emerging architects and
designers. “The theme of Cape Town’s
World Design Capital designation is ‘Live
Design. Transform Life,” says Reesberg.
“This competition is designed to ignite the
imagination of creatives across the country

and inspire them to use their design skills
to transform an important piece of the
city’s architectural heritage.”
Design proposals need to focus on
additions to, installations on and visual
solutions for the existing building. No
alterations to the existing structure of
the building will be considered. Entries
will be judged against a set of criteria
which includes, among other factors,
sustainability, aesthetic appeal and
broader community involvement in the
realisation of the design initiative.
Entries will be accepted from 11
November 2013 and close on 28 February
2014. Media24 will award cash prizes for
the three winning submissions, a first prize
of R200,000, a second prize of R80,000 and
a third prize of R40,000. The winner will be
announced on 11 April 2014. All guidelines
and design considerations are available on
the website and competition submission
portal www.design24.com which went live
on 4 November 2013.

MELLET & HUMAN ARCHITECTS RECEIVE INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY AWARD IN DUBAI
Pretoria-based Mellet & Human Architects has won a prestigious African Property
Award in the esteemed International
Property Awards programme for the 2013
Africa & Arabia regional competition.
Their entry, A South African Home for Art,
obtained a top scoring 5 stars for Best
Architecture Single Residence South Africa.
Mellet & Human Architects competed
against a number of architects in Africa for
this award.
The winning project is situated in
Groenkloof, Pretoria. The brief to the
architects was challenging and required
a compact one-level house on a very

News Watch

steep sub-divided property. Furthermore,
the design had to accommodate an
extensive collection of South African
art and sculptures. The resulting house
conceptually infuses an art and sculpture
gallery into a residential dwelling which, like
a high-level penthouse, takes advantage
of the spectacular views surrounding the
site. In 2012, Mellet & Human Architects
also received Awards of Excellence and
Merit from the South African Institute of
Architects for the design.
The International Property Awards
celebrated since 1995 the highest levels of
achievement and excellence by companies

operating in all sectors of the property and
real estate industries.
Today, it is the world’s richest
competition when measured by the
value of properties entered and a jury of
international experts identifies the most
significant building projects.
At the end of 2013, the highest scoring
winners from the African Property Awards
will compete against other winning
companies from Europe, Arabia, the UK,
the Americas and Asia to find the ultimate
World’s Best in each category at a gala
event to be held in London.
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