Green Park Sandton

SPECIAL REPORT: GREEN PARK

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AN AIR OF DISTINCTION GREEN PARK: ‘WORK, LIVE & PLAY’

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By Bev Hermanson

There’s nothing quite like the plush look and feel of exclusive packaging to elevate a brand to be a cut above the rest. The aura of luxury imparted by leathers, suedes, specially treated papers, heavy flocks and woven textiles can make an emphatic difference to the positioning of a brand in the marketplace.

By Stacey Rowan.

With a public square, offices, a 5-star boutique hotel, a pavement retail centre, cafes, an upmarket night club, a conference centre, a Virgin Active health centre, a spa and apartments, residents, employees and guests at Green Park don’t have to step a foot outside its doors.

All their basic needs are satisfied by the facilities available at the development, which provide means of food, exercise, leisure, work and rest.

At this urban lifestyle development it’s all about the ‘Work, Live, and Play’.

Green Park is situated in West Road South, Morningside, within walking distance from Sandton Central and the new Gautrain Station.

Although phase two and three of the development are only set for completion in 2013 and 2015 respectively, phase one is due for completion at the end of 2010.

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ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN The architectural design of Green Park is environmentally responsive. The development has to be carefully orientated northwards to allow for natural sunlight and summer shading. “The site it located within a public environment and has been designed to accommodate the people. The design is deliberately pedestrian and inclusive of the surrounding areas. The intention was, and continues to be, to create a comfortable human environment similar to the kind of smaller scale urban areas which existed before car-driven planning destroyed most of this city. Also, the client understands how complex and integrated environments function which has made it possible for the design to develop in a very different manner to conventional projects in Sandton,� explains says Vaughn Horsman, head architect on the project.

Apart from the architectural design, the overall aesthetics of the development are modern and contemporary. The interior called for a clean and neutral look. “This was created through the use of neutral material choices like concrete in the frame structures, glass for the facades and grey and white plaster. Other choices included robust external materials, brickwork skin with gamma zenith or cladding and timber for the balconies.

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CHALLENGES FACED With the development offering apartments, hotel rooms and office spaces, among others, this required a substantially large amount of parking that needed to be built.

“There is a huge amount of parking accommodated over four basements.” Not only did these facilities create a need for mass parking, but the mixed-use of the development also created challenges. “The complexities of mixed-use are naturally challenging. The residential apartments on top of retail had to be carefully planned, as well as the office space themselves. The use of deep green garden decks and arcades that separate these various zones provided a solution for this,” says Horsman.

SOARING INTO THE SKIES Green Park certainly soars into the skies with its 20 story commercial office, which forms the tallest building in the development. “The design brief, from our client Lushaka Investments, called for a mixeduse, high rise and high density precinct in Morningside, which would focus around an urban square. The land cost has demanded that the design maximises height and bulk at all costs,” says Horsman.

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AN AIR OF DISTINCTION

By Bev Hermanson

There’s nothing quite like the plush look and feel of exclusive packaging to elevate a brand to be a cut above the rest. The aura of luxury imparted by leathers, suedes, specially treated papers, heavy flocks and woven textiles can make an emphatic difference to the positioning of a brand in the marketplace.

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LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

A3 ARCHITECTS

Bertha Wium Landscape Development, in

A3 Architects worked closely with the

association with Red Landscape Archi-

Lushaka Group to create the ultra-modern

tects, was responsible for the execution of

architectural design of Green Park Sandton.

the landscape architecture of the Landscape Development Plan, as commissioned by

Differentiating them from other architec-

A3 Architects.

tural firms is there unique relationships with clients and suppliers and there ongoing

“Working in close relation with the client

personal service. “Our practice is not only

and the architects, the vision was formu-

about delivering the end product, but it’s

lated – developing a landscape that will

also about creating relationships with our

emphasise the name of the development

clients ensuring that their requirements

‘Green Park’. The design allowed for ample

are met. The practice itself is a hard work-

green, vertical walls, raised planters and

ing but relaxed environment with a good

lawn areas, pot gardens and large trees

vibe between colleagues. It is also a learn-

planted in sunken gardens,” says Bertha

ing environment where everyone is able to

Wium, MD, Bertha Wium Landscape Devel-

participate in all levels of a certain project,

opment (Pty) Ltd and Francois van Rooyen,

ask questions and a number of students

MD, Red Landscape Architects (Pty)Ltd.

are employed and trained. <

The landscape architecture needed to overcome the adverse climatic conditions associated with the built up environments in Sandton. This was achieved by strategically designing the location of the landscape within and around the building, ensuring that the ultimate landscape was chosen in the available spaces.

“The design of Green Park will be a yard stick for new buildings in and around Sandton,” says Wium.