Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa September/October 2014 | Page 35

A 3m louvred canopy
is cantilevered out
over the façade
on the top floor

in order to accommodate the Gautrain
servitude. Between these two onerous
building lines, this left a wedge tapering down
to just 20 metres in width in which the building
had to be designed and accommodated including the parking basements.
The Gautrain servitude turned out to be
fortuitous in that it left the architects with
a broad landscaping area along Oxford
Road in which a fountain is located. This
servitude area will be a common feature
of all the buildings constructed along this
major arterial. This probably would not have
occurred had the servitude not been imposed

Oxford Terrace

by Gautrain. A small amount of visitor parking
is accommodated at ground floor level.
Design
Since the site is east/west facing along its
length, this presented a dilemma as to how
much glass and how much solid façade should
face onto the main arterial road. In such a
situation, one is always reluctant to have blank
walls facing the road as this offers a fairly
“dead” experience of the building in passing
along the road. In the design, a compromise
was reached between a northfacing wing with
solid end wall facing onto Oxford Road, as well

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