African Design Magazine June 2017 | Page 50

Paul Boshoff from Urban Concept Architects notes that the most noticeable feature of the building is the colour-play on the fun, articulated façades, and the roofline. “The challenge on a high rise apartment is always how to articulate the repetitive façade and roof-line; I then saw a photograph of a building in Germany which I thought achieved this and also the challenge to incorporate the old shop. The west (street facing) façade gave me the opportunity to introduce screening and balconies and the majority of the rooms have a north orientation. The city planning department required a percentage of open space/apartment which then gave us the opportunity to introduce a roof garden which added a new dimension to the building,” he explains. “When trying to incorporate a single storied dilapidated structure into a 13 floor structure, town planning constraints had to be relaxed to maximize the development. “The southern boundary faced a railway reserve with an unknown future, so I positioned the three level parking structure behind the street façade, one semi basement, upper ground and then first floor. I only realized later that I pushed it to the absolute maximum Click here to read more 50 africandesignmagazine.com