22 PROJECT
Boon for city dwellers as Raubex completes Union Square
Edited by
Rory Macnamara
The renewal of Johannesburg ’ s city centre is getting a further boost with the expertise of Raubex Building , part of the Raubex Group ’ s infrastructure division .
Work was well underway on the refurbishment of Union Square , a 19-storey block at 80 Plein Street in the heart of Johannesburg ’ s original central business district . The project , scheduled for completion in the last quarter of 2020 , is being undertaken for the Johannesburg Social Housing Company ( JOSHCO ), under principal agent and architect , Heather Dodd from Savage and Dodd Architects . According to Juan Jardim , Raubex Building ’ s senior site manager on this contract , the project involves several important innovations – and more than a few challenges .
“ The building was previously an office block , and is being repurposed for residential use ,” says Jardim . “ This means the installation of considerably more walling and other infrastructure than the building was initially designed for .”
While the ground floor at street level will be used as retail space , the first floor to the 19 th floor each accommodates 18 residential units . The range of apartments includes bachelor flats of 19m 2 in size , one-bedroom units of 35m 2 , twobedroom units measuring 43m 2 and four-room communal cluster units of 94m 2 . The building is served by two passenger lifts , a service lift and a goods lift , as well as three fire staircases . There are three basements for parking .
The need to minimise the weight of additional infrastructure also affected the choice of water heating options . Union Square has a gas-heated boiler system on every fifth floor , which distributes hot water to the apartments . In addition to refurbishing and augmenting the inside of the block , Raubex Building also replaced the façades .
Raubex
Union Square , a 19-storey block at 80 Plein Street in the heart of Johannesburg ’ s original central business district , has been repurposed for residential use .
“ This was necessary because of the ageing concrete on the outside of the structure , which meant that the original plaster and tiles were delaminating ,” Jardim says . “ About 5 000m 2 of old plaster and tiles had to be broken from the face of the building , exposing the concrete . We could then break off loose concrete where necessary and clean the exposed reinforcing bar .”
So extensive was the outer decay that some 33 000l of the
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