Details
The brief called for a mixed-use development consisting of a community hall, light industrial space utilized by local business owners, a daycare centre for preschoolers, facilities management as well as rentable office space, customer services, parking, retail, informal trading, as well as an art component.
The 4400m2 site is situated in the rural Folweni district which is south of the Durban CBD.
The site is flanked on two sides by roads - M35 Highway and Yawa Mzimande Drive. There is a two meter fall across the site from the highway down to Yawa Mzimande Drive where the main entry and exit points are located.
The various zones of the 2750m2 building are linked together to form a footprint that hugs the perimeter of the site which in turn creates an internal courtyard space for parking and seating.
The retail and informal trading components have been positioned along the predominant Yawa Mzimande Drive thereby activating the ground floor zone and creating valuable pedestrian experiences along the street.
Above this sits the office component which offers a sense of surveillance onto the street.
The light industrial manufacturing component sits along the rear site acting as a buffer zone between the highway and the development.
The community hall has a direct relationship to the street on one side, and on the opposite side opens onto the outdoor courtyard which is shared with the daycare centre. This allows for maximum usage of the facility at any given time.
The architectural language is uncomplicated and similar to the sister project of Inwabi road BSU seeks to address the FORM vs Function theories - it is a design response of both site context and function.
A restrained palette of materials was adopted - facebrick at the mini-factories, off shutter concrete and breeze blocks to the retail and office components and accent coloured paint to the daycare centre.
Green building design principles including energy efficiency with regards to orientation and clearstory lighting, rainwater harvesting, green roofs and cross ventilation have been implemented.
The art component was envisaged to be an integral element in the development - mosaic artwork to the external seating area floor to replace the more traditional paving solution, helping to bring this gathering space to life.
Considering the somewhat limited existing infrastructure within the precinct, it would appear that there is a high demand for the resources and amenities that this project has to offer and which could be a catalyst for future SMME developments within the urban context and can provide positive social up-liftment to the community of Folweni
The brief called for a mixed-use development consisting of a community hall, light industrial space utilized by local business owners, a daycare centre for preschoolers, facilities management as well as rentable office space, customer services, parking, retail, informal trading, as well as an art component.
The 4400m2 site is situated in the rural Folweni district which is south of the Durban CBD.
The site is flanked on two sides by roads - M35 Highway and Yawa Mzimande Drive. There is a two meter fall across the site from the highway down to Yawa Mzimande Drive where the main entry and exit points are located.
The various zones of the 2750m2 building are linked together to form a footprint that hugs the perimeter of the site which in turn creates an internal courtyard space for parking and seating.
The retail and informal trading components have been positioned along the predominant Yawa Mzimande Drive thereby activating the ground floor zone and creating valuable pedestrian experiences along the street.
Above this sits the office component which offers a sense of surveillance onto the street.
The light industrial manufacturing component sits along the rear site acting as a buffer zone between the highway and the development.
The community hall has a direct relationship to the street on one side, and on the opposite side opens onto the outdoor courtyard which is shared with the daycare centre. This allows for maximum usage of the facility at any given time.
The architectural language is uncomplicated and similar to the sister project of Inwabi road BSU seeks to address the FORM vs Function theories - it is a design response of both site context and function.
A restrained palette of materials was adopted - facebrick at the mini-factories, off shutter concrete and breeze blocks to the retail and office components and accent coloured paint to the daycare centre.
Green building design principles including energy efficiency with regards to orientation and clearstory lighting, rainwater harvesting, green roofs and cross ventilation have been implemented.
The art component was envisaged to be an integral element in the development - mosaic artwork to the external seating area floor to replace the more traditional paving solution, helping to bring this gathering space to life.
Considering the somewhat limited existing infrastructure within the precinct, it would appear that there is a high demand for the resources and amenities that this project has to offer and which could be a catalyst for future SMME developments within the urban context and can provide positive social up-liftment to the community of Folweni
