which is unusual for retail , facilitates a sense of connection , engagement and shared ideas and a shared , dynamic retail experience rather than the compartmentalisation of a typical mall experience . Similarly , the way in which the restaurants open onto the sidewalk space along Maude Street activates the street edge .
The MARC has also been designed to actively interface and connect with neighbouring properties – particularly the Balalaika Hotel and the Holiday Inn . Van Bebber points out that “ knitting The MARC back into the urban fabric ” was essential to ensure the successful activation of the public space of the precinct , and to Sandton ’ s commercial centre more generally . The MARC is unique in Sandton in that it has three separate entrances , including the newly unlocked passageway from Stella Street to the south , which has been decorated with specially commissioned urban art , and draws pedestrians from neighbouring offices to the south , as well as Gautrain users , facilitating easy access to the centre and hotels beyond .
Innovative Façade Design Arup provided specialised façade engineering services on The Marc ’ s façade . Matilde Tellier , senior façade engineer at Arup , commented , “ One of the biggest challenges with a building of such unusual geometry was rationalising the façade envelope for efficient fabrication while adhering to the architectural concept .”
The façade ’ s surface is formed by a mesh of 5,620 alternating gold and black flat triangular elements whose vertices follow a nebula of points scattered in space with a specific logic .
The Arup team approached the Jewel ’ s façade panelisation design by forcing the maximum number of equal triangles on the surface and exploring various combinations of curves .
The curve , generated surface and triangular panels were coded in a parametric environment , allowing the geometry of the spiral curve to be adjusted to change the overall shape of the façade and achieve different degrees of “ bulginess ”. This enabled the architect to make geometric adjustments , with the
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