AMA Architects

ADOPTING A HUMAN-CENTRIC APPROACH TO ARCHITECTURE

AMA ARCHITECTS

The Urban

Rejuvenator By adopting a human-centric design ethos, AMA Architects continues to be front and centre of landmark developments across city districts in South Africa Writer: Tom Wadlow | Project Manager: Eddie Clinton

2 | Africa Outlook issue 76

CONSTRUCTION

Africa Outlook issue 76 | 3

AMA ARCHITECTS

M

uch like the economy, urban areas go through cycles of prosperity and decay, peaks and troughs.

Take Johannesburg’s Central Business District (CBD). Still the densest area of skyscrapers in Africa, it thrived during the economically prosperous period of the 1960s and 1970s, signified by the completion of the Carlton Centre, the continent’s then tallest building.

However, with the failing apartheid politics and through until the late 1990s, the CBD became a no-go zone and virtual ghost town, a shadow of its

former glory and dogged by crime and neglect. Residential and commercial occupation plummeted, with people and businesses opting for more secure houses and offices in the northern suburbs of the city.

Fast-forward to today and the situation is gradually improving once more, the government of Gauteng and many large banks establishing themselves in the area. Gentrification efforts, including the mass rollout of CCTV and development of historical buildings, are helping to reduce crime and encourage people back to the CBD.

BACKGROUND

ABOUT AMA ARCHITECTS Based in Sandton, South Africa, AMA Architects is a prominent design group of architects and interior designers that has emerged into a multidisciplinary practice since setting up in 1993.

Clients include listed property groups, financial institutions, prominent private developers and individuals with vision.

The firm has a formidable track record in the design and delivery of specialised head office buildings, residential apartment developments, commercial refurbishments, office parks, retail projects, motor showrooms, luxury homes, office relocations and industrial distribution warehousing facilities.

The group has completed many notable works of architecture of the highest standards and practices architectural design with an enthusiasm and strong commitment to the timeless values of architecture.

Adrian Maserow, Gerald Pereira and Marco Fanucchi, together with Antonio Damons, are the company’s Directors, and Peter Brown and Kevin Huang serving as AMA Architects Associates.

Kempak Kempak Tiling has established itself as a leading, reputable tiling contractor and installer of granite tops.

Based just outside of Sandton, the company operates mainly within the Gauteng region and prides itself on three core elements to its offering: value for money, excellent tiling quality, and unrivalled project management skills.

Another important aspect of Kempak Tiling is that clients deal directly with the company’s owners, meaning that accountability is absolute and that no stone is left unturned.

This has been the case in a recent project with AMA Architects in Centurion, involving the construction of a new head office for Exxaro. Kempak was contracted by WBHO (Wilson Bayley Homes) to complete the tiling and plastering for the development, which was completed in March 2019 and spans 18,000 square metres. The project involved 11,500 square metres of tiling, and 30,000 square metres plastering.

Whether its mosaic, slate, porcelain, sandstone, marble, travertine or LVT (luxury vinyl tiles), Kempak is able to deliver your tiling needs. From tile sourcing and choices to design layout, procurement and installation, Kempak will deliver on time and within budget.

Train stations, offices, hotels, apartments, automotive showrooms and golf estates are just some of the successfully completed projects that make up the company’s portfolio. To find out more, visit www.kempak.co.za

www.kempak.co.za

4 | Africa Outlook issue 76

AMA ARCHITECTS

PORTFOLIO SNAPSHOT

MASINGITA TOWERS Masingita Towers: Covering 10,300 square metres, Masingita Towers is a luxury residential accommodation development situated in the heart of Sandton. The development comprises 180 apartments, situated just 600 metres from the Benmore Gardens shopping centre. Masingita Towers is at the epicentre of lifestyle and urban energy. These cosmopolitan apartments are positioned on the most exclusively sought-after road in the heart of Sandton. Unrivalled in aesthetic appeal, Masingita Towers features awe-inspiring views of one of Africa’s most vibrant cities coupled with modern sophistication and remarkable quality. Indulge in a worldclass lifestyle created for the discerning few – superior two bedroom en suite apartments and prestigious penthouses, with an exclusive bouquet of services and facilities to ensure effortless daily life such as a trendy restaurant, private lounge, executive conference facilities and wi-fi, a business centre, a fitness centre, outdoor sparkling pool, laundry and housekeeping, and 24-hour security.

Indeed, for Adrian Maserow and AMA Architects, the key to revitalising an urban environment can lie in an individual building as a catalyst for transformation.

It is what the Sandton-based practice specialises in as Maserow, the Managing Director, explains: “AMA is a leading and broadly skilled mixed-use architectural and interior design specialist firm that benchmarks its skills and achievements to an international architectural conversation concerning placemaking and the humanisation of our urban fabric.”

6 | Africa Outlook issue 76

“WE BELIEVE THAT A WELL-EXECUTED MAURITIAN AND REGIONAL STRATEGY WILL REWARD SHAREHOLDERS WITH ATTRACTIVE RETURNS AND A STRONG GROWTH STORY”

In Johannesburg’s CBD, that individual building as a catalyst for change is the Absa Towers Main building.

“The building at 30 storeys high remains an iconic city landmark, however, its redevelopment represents a powerful manifestation of ongoing efforts to claw back the Johannesburg central business district from the socially and economically debilitating effects of neglect, grime and crime,” Maserow continues.

This mixed-used building enables Absa (a prominent South African bank) to simultaneously occupy less space, facilitated by its offices’ PORTFOLIO SNAPSHOT

ATHOLL TOWERS Situated alongside the Park Inn Hotel, just off Katherine Street in Sandton. The first phase was built for Volkswagen and is three storeys high, whilst the second phase is seven storeys.

The transition from a lower building in front to a higher one behind creates an interesting build-up of scale. The buildings are sculpturally designed, with framed wraparound elements and cantilevered terraces.

Completed in April 2015, it consists of 10,211 squares metres of offices and 480 parking bays, with five basement levels. The Atholl Towers office development in Johannesburg, South Africa, was awarded a 5-Star Green Star SA Rating by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA)

CONSTRUCTION

flexible workplace planning, while also fulfilling its vision of contributing to the community and providing impetus for the rejuvenation of this part of the CBD, including 20 floors of low-cost economic residential accommodation in Johannesburg.

This translates into 520 apartments atop of 10 floors of office space, a retail ground floor with coffee shop, restaurant and recreational areas, childcare facilities, a public square with planted park-like enclaves and integrated public transport facilities. The ground floor will house the Absa Art Gallery, while a sky deck occupies amenities on the 15th floor.

Thanks to its human-centred design approach, AMA will be leading the creation of an urban space that will help underprivileged residents and small businesses to thrive in the city, the scheme also heavily advocating pedestrianisation of the inner city.

Its target rent level for the development is R3,000 ($205) a month, while the development process will see local businesses and suppliers favoured in

PORTFOLIO SNAPSHOT

CLIENTELE Clientele Life Call Centre in Morningside, Sandton, is a 7,500-square-metre head office and call centre building completed in 2014.

its construction and employment.

The development also has sustainability in mind. Maserow explains: “Denser urban living residences nearer to work opportunities is highlighted as an essential strategy to ensure limiting carbon emissions. The adaptive reuse of an existing but outdated structure is reinforcing sustainability by reducing the need for new building construction.”

UBUNTU – I AM BECAUSE WE ARE Of course, not all requirements can be met by revamping existing structures.

In Centurion, the recently completed headquarters building designed for the mining firm Exxaro, The ConneXXion, represents a landmark project for AMA Architects and all associated with this remarkable project.

Africa Outlook issue 76 | 7

AMA ARCHITECTS

PORTFOLIO SNAPSHOT

HQ BEDFORDVIEW Completed in 2016, HQ Bedfordview is an office complex in the Bedfordview suburb of Johannesburg. The project covers some 9,200 square metres, with clients able to move into flexible workspaces as small as 140 square metres and as large as 8,000 square metres, and almost any size in between. Set to become a landmark building, HQ Bedfordview is conveniently located directly across the road from both Bedford Centre and Bedford Square, and will set a new standard of Premium Grade office space in the area. Roof terraces that capitalise on breathtaking views, individual three-storey blocks designed with flexible floor plates.

HQ Bedfordview is designed with three individual blocks, a park like environment, featuring state-of-the-art facilities.

8 | Africa Outlook issue 76

“Encouraged by the philosophy of ‘ubuntu: I am because we are’, the African philosophy of inclusivity embraces true diversity as it transitions its working community from old to new, and becomes the generator of a recognisable humanistic architecture in this head office,” Maserow says.

“Its curvaceous form, and a seamless boundary experience with pedestrian links to the Gautrain station and the Centurion Mall, together with neighbouring shops, is the context of the Exxaro head office location.

“In Africa, we respond well to nature, its pristine light, lush plants and fresh air, and to the natural textures of warm woods and soulful organic materials that shape the tactile nature of this architecture. Through generous fluid spaces, the presence of the Centurion sky formed in its abstracted cloudlike-patterns is reflected in the curves of the glazed ‘canvas’.”

Covering 18,000 square metres of activated office space, The Connexx-

CONSTRUCTION ion has a five-star Green Star rating and will attain a first-time WELLNESS rating in South Africa.

Among the many features of this ultramodern working space is an incredible atrium with attractive central stairways to cut down on lift usage, an ETFE roof to allow for natural light into the heart of the building and several water and energy saving features such as specially adapted taps, energy-efficient lighting and photovoltaic panels plus electric vehicle charging points.

The ConneXXion is just one of many successfully completed and sizable developments designed by AMA Architects in recent times across many parts of South Africa. Masingita Towers, The Clientele Head Office, the Atholl Towers, Sandton Skye Apartments and Cosmo Mall are examples

PORTFOLIO SNAPSHOT

COSMO MALL “Adjacent to Cosmo City on Malibongwe Drive, we designed the Mall to serve the local community,” Maserow says. “The design is simple and clean, with a beautiful interior space. We’ve introduced brightly coloured glass with patterning, like stained glass, which has really energised the space. It has become a real expression of colour and is fun and joyful. This is the kind of spirit we want to bring to these places. People often replicate the same old formula for retail projects, and what for? You can design a mall in such a way that you retain all the financial advantages and still do something exciting that gives people joy and inspiration.”

Titanus Slew Rings industrial premises is Located in Tunney, Gauteng, and this project required a completely unique industrial architectural solution.

The design of the industrial building aimed to provide as much natural light as possible for this high precision manufacturing process, and the roof is the largest multi-module barrel vault on the Highveld.

PORTFOLIO SNAPSHOT

SANDTON SKYE This is a residential project with a difference in that it functions in a hotel-like fashion. Residents have access to a range of public amenities including restaurant, a bar, a gymnasium, a health spa, a crèche and kiddies’ centre, a business centre and pool. Once again, rather than operating as a single building, Sandton Skye will consist of three towers linked by gardens and outdoor terraces.

The spaces and visual links between them make the complex visually interesting and the spaces are vibrant and inviting.

of prominent projects which are valued additions to the architecture of Johannesburg.

A reliable and knowledgeable supplier network is recognised by Maserow as central to the company’s longstanding reputation, and this together with the ability to stay abreast of key technological trends in construction help to drive AMA’s passion for visionary designs.

And it is on a forward-thinking note that he delivers his closing remarks.

Having established itself locally as a dynamic architectural firm able to execute excellence across a spectrum of building and development types, expansion into new territories could be on the horizon.

Looking ahead to the future, Maserow concludes: “We continuously seek

new paths to grow our footprint as a leading architectural firm – both locally and hopefully abroad.

“Each project we complete has an impact that positively resonates with the people who use and live in our environments. Our highly driven ambitions are always challenged with new project scope and functions and, because we focus on people, our vision consistently drives a fresh and hugely appealing brand of architecture.”

AMA ARCHITECTS Tel: +2711 8077505 adrian@amagroup.co.za www.amagroup.co.za

Africa Outlook issue 76 | 9

AMA ARCHITECTS 131 12th Ave Edenburg Sandton Tel: +2711 8077505 adrian@amagroup.co.za www.amagroup.co.za

PRODUCED BY AFRICA OUTLOOK MAGAZINE