various faculties that were scattered in a number of buildings across campus . By accommodating the administrative functions into one new building other existing buildings could be freed up to provide for more teaching spaces . The design brief for new development at WITS orginates from a Peer Review Committee that includes members of the Department of Architecture . Any new buildings need to be cognisant of the heritage of the site as well as the surrounding architecture . A photographic overview of all the buildings on the West Campus was compiled which allowed key design elements to be identified and taken into consideration with regards the design of the new building . These ranged from Victorian through to modern design influences .
The site was originally the old Rose Garden on the site of the Milner Park Showgrounds , although for some years it had functioned as a parking lot . The site is adjacent to the historic Tower of Light , erected for the Empire Exhibition in 1936 . Due to this proximity the new building had to pass a stringent heritage assessment with the Gauteng Heritage Association .
The building was orginally designed to house adminstrative offices and seminar rooms for faculty staff and also provide student services . Although not originally planned with student study spaces in mind , some of the common areas have evolved into study zones , particularly for postgraduate students .
Design Programmatically the building comprises of two interlocking L-shaped functional zones housing private office wings on one side and a bank of public social amenities on the other . These two wings are connected on all four storeys by a habitable bridge , forming a skylit atrium with a hanging circulation stair . The building accommodates nine departments , with half of its space dedicated to shared collaborative and social areas interconnected through a central atrium to promote a unified faculty community .
The precast concrete elements of the façade pay homage to the materials used in the construction of the Tower of Light and the vertical aluminium clad elements are juxtaposed with the
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