Located in the heart of Rosebank, adjacent to the Gautrain Station, The Zone and Rosebank Mall, Rosebank Link by Redefine Properties is a new office development at 173 Oxford Road. This project will transform the current building into an expressive steel- and glass-clad shell icon.
Rosebank Link by Redefine Properties is a new office development at 173 Oxford Road.
Practical completion is anticipated in October this year, with Paragon’s scope of work including design and documentation for all five stages. The project comprises a total rentable area of 18 744 m2 of office area and 1 553 m2 of ground floor retail area. At 15 storeys above ground, the building consists of two basement parking levels, a ground floor public/retail level, five parkade levels, and nine storeys of offices from the podium level.
The Paragon project team includes Anthony Orelowitz, Director; Duanne Render, Director; Warren Wesson, Senior Project Architectural Technologist; Alex Slaviero; Project Architect; Francois Mercer, Candidate Architect; Marli Swanepoel, Candidate Architect; Katy Harris, Candidate Architect; Aneesh Parbhoo, Architectural Technologist; and Michael Botha, Architectural Technologist.
The professional team consists of WBHO, contractor; Betts Townsend, project manager; MLC, quantity surveyor; Sutherland Engineers, structural and façade engineer; CKR, electrical and wet services engineer; Adaptive Resource, mechanical engineer; SFT, fire engineer; and WSP, green building consultant.
At 15 storeys, Rosebank Link will be a steel-and-glass clad icon.
“The building showcases the corporate values and identity of Redefine Properties, which we achieved by our finely-honed ability to value engineer and design without the monotony often associated with corporate office design,” Senior Project Architectural Technologist Warren Wesson comments. “As a building standing foremost in the centre of a developing cosmopolitan area, it was important to have a unique design that served the needs of the client and its neighbours, as well as the public, in a new, exciting, and smart way.”
The east and west façades consist of a composite aluminium-clad shell with articulated strip windows to allow light and views to filter into every office module. These faceted façades have a visual quality emphasised by the articulated strip windows, which transform from day to night. The flush-glazed north and south façades allow for uninterrupted views over the greater urban area of Rosebank.
The backdrop to the façades is a smooth and glossy flat finish that transforms itself into the underbelly of the building. The organic vaulting architecture of the underbelly raises the building from the ground, allowing users to traverse an unimpeded thoroughfare between the Gautrain Station and the shopping area.
At the heart of the building is a multi-storey enclosed, north-facing atrium fashioned to capture the sunlight filtering down into a unique fluid underbelly of the ground-floor thoroughfare. This creates a conduit for a combination of green walls and indigenous planting brought to life in executive roof gardens, podium-level gardens, and parkade wall gardens that allow for a tranquil environment not normally afforded in multi-storey buildings.
Rosebank Link is adjacent to the Gautrain Station, The Zone, and Rosebank Mall.
Paragon’s design of Rosebank Link had to take many factors into account, from budget to programme, and the constraints and conditions of the site. “Once those parameters were understood, it allowed us to set a broad concept. Those parameters were then inputted into a 3D parametric modelling process that assisted in the visualisation of a concept refined ultimately to meet all design conditions,” Wesson explains. All the consultants on the project are BIM-proficient, collaborating through 3D software to streamline the co-ordination process.
Given the building’s strategic location in terms of the Gautrain Station, Paragon had to pay particular attention to the surrounding area and infrastructure linkages. “This is very important. The unique nature of the area required connectivity so as to allow the precinct to function at its best.”
Wesson concludes that the building has been designed, and will be operated, in an environmentally-sustainable manner. Passive building design techniques and environmental considerations will ensure a 4 Star Green Star rating, creating a healthier and more productive environment.
