African project
4 Stan Road – South Africa
Number 4 Stan Road in the heart of Sandton is the original and the
new home of MDS Architecture, a South African practice with a history
spanning over 60 years. The new eight storey building has a unique
sculpted street presence and manages to provide a sense of sanctuary
and privacy despite its location amid imposing neighbouring structures.
It also boasts both a 4-Star Design and a 4-Star As-Built Green Star
Rating from the Green Building Council of South Africa.
A new (old) home
M
DS Architecture designed the office building for a consortium
of professionals, made up of some of the partners in the
practice as well as those of their long-standing office
neighbours, Brian Heineberg & Associates. The original
building was developed in 1991.
Sean Pearce, a partner at MDS Architecture, created the
concept for the building and Pat Henry, also a partner, led the
design development and construction of the project. Sean
explains that the site’s context was an important consideration
in developing the design. The site is bordered by complexes of residential towers on
three sides, with a large office development between it and the very busy Grayston
Drive. Its street address on Stan Road faces west, which created an interesting
design problem for resolution.
The original single-storey building at 4 Stan Road was the home of MDS Architecture
and Brian Heineberg & Associates for many years and they have proudly returned
to this address as the anchor tenants in the new building. “Designing a building for
both architects and quantity surveyors who are also your partners and co-owners
makes for a very interesting project,” says Pat.
“The original single level structure that made way for this exciting new building was
being dwarfed by massive developments as this part of Sandton grew. For us, the
site holds so much history and while wanting to pay homage to our roots we also
wanted to ensure that the new building reflected the future of both practices as well
as that of the burgeoning greater Sandton precinct,” he explains.
Two distinct aspects
The building has two distinct aspects. The street address façade on Stan Road is
west-facing and is treated as a solid face with massive full height fins behind which
thin slivers of glazing peep southwards over the roofscapes of Sandton. In this way
the design manages the typical heat build-up of a west-facing façade and controls
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