South Point Towers comprises 200 housing units, a retail space, a gym, a creche and a roof bar. When built, this will be one of the largest investments in the inner city since democracy. It involves the renovation of a 20-storey b-grade office tower into a luxury condominium development. The building is notorious for housing Randlords, which was built in 2010 and is one of the most popular rooftop bars in Johannesburg. This project forms part of a broader strategy which looks to transform western Braamfontein into a live, work and play neighbourhood for young adults, particularly post-graduates linked to the nearby Wits University.
The commission came about through an invited competition. The design process looked to strip down the existing building to its bare concrete structure, which has a lot of integrity, and render all the apartments with floor-to-ceiling butt-jointed glass to welcome natural light and views of the city. The most prominent and visible alteration to the building is the creation of a new vehicular ramp on the ground floor, which opens up access to parking on the above-ground first and second levels, while creating a dynamic ground floor retail edge with a double volume art museum on the western edge of the building.
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