Architect and Builder Magazine South Africa January/February 2015 | Page 47

RETAIL LEVEL 2

Despite the challenges associated with
retaining the building, Pat comments that he
is pleased that South African developers and
professionals are increasingly working with
the existing frameworks of building, thereby
lessening the environmental impact of total
demolition and rebuild.
The previously L-shaped building has evolved
into an egg-shaped new mall which crosses over
Bath Avenue. The original Stuttafords/Pick ‘n
Pay link was retained on both levels as a cross
mall. “The curved mall entices shoppers to
explore further along the path, as it were. They
experience a seamless encounter between the
old and new elements of Rosebankmall and
are not aware of crossing over Bath Avenue
at the point where this happens in the mall,”
explains Pat.
Cradock Atrium: Drama at
Rosebank’s Point of Confluence
The new Cradock Atrium is a dramatic
departure from the unremarkable entrance and
darkness of the previous Cradock Court, which
had seemingly gotten lost as the busy junction
that it is. “Cradock Atrium is now the point of
confluence of access into the Rosebank precinct
via pedestrian and other shopping routes. We
therefore designed a multi-level open space
with vertical transparency from both inside and
outside the building,” says Pat.
The massive glass and steel façade is broken
up by bright yellow-coloured accent glazing
to emphasise the morning sunlight that now
streams into the area.
Cradock Avenue has been re-emphasised
as a pedestrian thoroughfare and permeability
Rosebankmall

RETAIL LEVEL 3

improved by adding access off Cradock Avenue
into Woolworths, Europa and a newly relocated
African Craft Market. “We demolished the old
African craft market as well as the old rotunda
entrance as these blocked the vistas up and
down Cradock Avenue from the new Standard
Bank building towards Tyrwhitt Avenue,”
explains Brett Chrystal, the project architect
from MDS Architecture.
The original visibility down Cradock
Avenue has been reinstated and the axes
have been reinforced by planting and other
visual cues such as new paving and a covered
walkway linking into the new atrium and the new
Woolworths store.
Pat says that permeability will be taken
even further in future phases, currently under
discussion. “We are designing future phases
for additional retail and other accommodation
as well as attending parking. A key tenet of
the design for these future phases is improved
relationships between the shops and the street,
in line with the urban fabric of the Rosebank
area,” he explains.
Interior
The interior finishes are clean, understated
and fresh. The end result belies the planning
and logistical requirements of achieving a
contemporary, light and airy mall.
Natural light was introduced through the
addition of nine light wells throughout the mall
– these were a feat on their own. “We couldn’t
use skylights in a building covered with multilevel parking, so we designed towers of light
which extend all the way up through the parking
to allow natural light to enter the mall,” explains

The new-look
Rosebankmall has
almost doubled the
GLA of the existing
shopping centre to
create a critical mass of
retail for the precinct

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