M/Architects, a South African-based firm, established in 2003, recently complet
studied with the famous American architect Louis Kahn at the
1948 houghton estate, Joh
The Brief
To maximize the floor area (0.8) and to design a commercial office building with a flexible floo
The building had to have a presence on Oxford Road and it had to have a sensational rooftop t
overlooking Rosebank and Houghton. This would act as a leasing attraction, which worked. Th
scope of work was to provide a full architectural service including supervision and interior de
however, once the building was underway and SaatchiAbel arrived as the tenant, they appoint
as interior designer.
The Site
The site accommodated a private home, now fast disappearing as Oxford Road transforms into
commercial and high density residential strip. Problems on the site were firstly the traffic nois
Oxford Road and then the Western orientation of the site. The client wanted a presence on Ox
Road and an impressive glassy façade. In the final design we managed to balance glass and sol
produce a solar efficient solution with a good aspect to the road.
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The Building
The building is 2858m2 in area with a double parking basement accommodating 109 parking
together with surface parking on 8th. Street making a ratio of 4.6 cars per 100m2. The most no
feature of the building is the interplay between glass and solid and the passing planes which
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