Far Left : Typical Floor Plan
Left : Penthouse Plan
themselves without disturbing the privacy of the units beyond at night .
The atrium garden on the first floor of the apartments is a structured park-like space designed to showcase the space itself , like a pocket park in a city of apartments surrounding it .
Materials and Finishes The building uses a conventional concrete frame construction with brick infill , most commonly used for mid-rise and high-rise buildings in South Africa .
The finishes internally and externally are plaster and paint , with the out-of-reach light coloured areas of the façade coated with a colour-fast plaster product for ease of maintenance .
The balustrades and the external screens are galvanised unpainted steel . It is hoped that as these age with time these elements of the building will attain a patina , a little like one would expect from a lead or copper roof . All the glazing elements are powder-coated aluminium using performance glazing to SANS XA standards .
and the rest of the team , not least of which was the advent of the COVID-19 Coronavirus of 2019 .
To manage the development through the issues that arose the developer had the site rezoned twice during construction to allow for the everchanging market take-up . Each time a redesign was required to facilitate additional floors and a revised unit mix . Changes and delays resulted in the delivery of the building having to be put out to the end of 2020 ; six years after the first sketches were done .
A project realised over many years , with many iterations , The Median now stands as the forward looking , modern building the architects envisaged from the start in 2014 .
Energy The water heating is achieved by way of a central natural gas boiler system located in the lowest basement and circulated around the building for instant hot water to all the apartments . This system , together with the gas stoves in the units , contributes to the building ’ s energy efficiency . The Median also boasts state-of-the-art full back up power generation and safety equipment .
Challenges What was not known at the time was that the project would become fraught with delays resulting from matters beyond the control of the developers
The Median 37