THE MEDIAN
THE MEDIAN Rosebank , Johannesburg
ARCHITECT Messaris Wapenaar Cole Architects
PROJECT MANAGER & PRINCIPAL AGENT Devcon Projects
CIVIL & STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS KCE Consulting
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS CPE Consulting Engineers
HVAC , WET SERVICES , FIRE , GAS & ELECTRONIC ACS Consulting Engineers
FIRE CONSULTANTS Specialised Fire Technology
CONSTRUCTION HEALTH & SAFETY AGENT Pure Safety
QUALITY CONTROL MCS Project Management
LAND SURVEYORS RD Clark Land Surveyor
LANDSCAPING Highveld Horticulture
INTERIOR DESIGN BT Interiors
DEVELOPER REPRESENTATIVE Renprop
MAIN CONTRACTOR Vlaming
PHOTOGRAPHY Theana Breugem
Messaris Wapenaar Cole Architects was commissioned at the end of 2014 to design what was intended to be a 14-floor apartment building . With its prime position in the heart of the busy hub of Rosebank , The Median was envisaged by the client as a building which was to be the icon of nouveau apartment living in Rosebank .
This was already a tall order , given that in most cases a building of this nature , complexity and size would only feasibly be completed about five years later . The design would thus have to be at least five years ahead of its time . What the brief required was a world-class response .
The Site The site is on the corner of Tyrwhitt and Cradock Avenue , the gateway to the pedestrianised upper Tyrwhitt Avenue , where it intersects the north / south pedestrian artery from the Mall of Rosebank to the taxi rank at Jellicoe Avenue . The site , as with most urban sites , is compact and consequently the footprint of the building is small . Access and egress for both vehicles and pedestrians are on Tyrwhitt Avenue , occupying most of the south façade at street level .
To accommodate the required level of parking as well as the services required , the building extends five levels below the street , making the total height of the final building 21 storeys . The excavation required to accommodate this was possibly the deepest hole in Rosebank at the time . This required careful planning and precision engineering to achieve without compromising surrounding structures and services .
The site is on the corner of Tyrwhitt and Cradock Avenue , the gateway to the pedestrianised upper Tyrwhitt Avenue
32 The Median