HERBERT PRINS COLOSSEUM MEMORIAL 2024 AWARDS
RE-IMAGINING THE PLANETARIUM AS THE WITS ANGLO- AMERICAN DIGITAL DOME
Kate Otten Architects
Braamfontein, Johannesburg
The copper-domed Wits Planetarium with its slender columned portico is a recognisable and well-known landmark on Yale Road on the East Campus of the University of the Witwatersrand. The Planetarium was completed in 1960 and was notable for its extraordinary Zeiss planetarium projector.
For over 60 years, the Planetarium, the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, has had a significant impact on the University and the broader community, with many thousands of visitors having experienced the projected celestial wonders. A high-profile Centenary project for Wits was to transform the Planetarium, into a fully interactive digital system.
The newly named Wits Anglo American Digital Dome project aims to create a visualization laboratory within this iconic landmark. This will broaden its role well beyond astronomy, re-imagine its potential on a 21st Century campus, and enable unparalleled community engagement. The vision was to transform the Planetarium into a cutting-edge digital facility, while building on its proud history as a unique science engagement venue. Modernizing the Planetarium to a full-dome, real-time, interactive digital system to broaden this offering beyond astronomy, and re-imagine its important role.
Kate Otten Architects (KOA) were appointed by the University of the Witwatersrand in 2021 as the architects for the adaptive re-use of the Planetarium. Noting the heritage importance and sensitivity of this building KOA appointed William Martinson as their specialist Heritage architect.
TRADITIONAL TSWANA HOUSING
Savage+Dodd Architects, Moralo Designs, Visual Communications
It was financed by a grant administered by the Department of Building Function Analysis, School of Architecture, Lund University, Sweden. The report was published by the Swedish Council for Building Research. The original publication was produced by using solely black colour for printing text, photos and sketches – the technology available and affordable at the time.
However, thirty-six years following the printing, it was considered relevant that the publication be re-issued applying modern digital technology and in colour – to fully reflect the beauty of Tswana traditional houses and homes. Further, with modernization rapidly consuming what is traditionally Tswana houses and homes, the book’s value became of even higher importance – as a historical document.
The content and text remain the same as in the original publication. The only changes introduced to the new version is the inclusion of the Foreword and Conclusions 2020. The photos are produced from scanned colour slides taken during the field study of the research project in 1984. Where considered ideal, the original black-and-white photos are retained.
The work with the second edition was inspired and encouraged by Sithabile Mathe, a Botswana Architect, and Heather Dodd, a South African Architect. They wrote the Foreword and Conclusions. The author, Viera Larsson, is grateful and thanks them for their most valuable input. Anita Larsson has passed away in 2015.
FLOWER HALL TEST AND EXAMINATION CENTRE
Savage+Dodd Architects
West Campus University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
The Flower Hall at the University of the Witwatersrand was used as an exams venue. Designed by
Fleming & Cooke in 1969, it was part of the Showgrounds designed to house flower displays of the
Wits Agricultural Society at the annual Rand Easter Show.
It was constructed as an industrial ‘shed’ with four modules. These correspond to a structural system
of four sections of a barrel roof supported on a steel arched member following the plan of the building with splayed walls at these junctions. South facing roof lights sit between each segment of
roof continuing down vertically into side windows at each bay. The building was innovative in
relation to its structure and original services that supported its functionality as an exhibition building.
A new structure was built within the envelope of the building. Two new floor plates, one full floor
and a mezzanine, were inserted into the buildings’s volume. The buildings functional area for seating
is effectively doubled.
An infill building – the ‘north lobby’ connects the Flower Hall to the Goldfields building and houses
the circulation elements connecting the two buildings.
A ‘south’ lobby was inserted into the first bay of the Flower Hall with staircases leading to the new
floors. This area also contains toilet facilities.
The steel glass curtain wall to the south façade was replaced with a new glazed curtain wall. New services are provided to support the use of the building in an energy efficient way.
In relation to the concept of adaptive re-use, the life of buildings is extended by changing and adapting them to other contemporary uses. The significance of the building is maintained through minimizing the impact of change on the physical fabric of the building through balancing heritage requirements and the requirements of a contemporary working environment.
AFRIKAANS HOER MEISIESKOOL GEDENKSENTRUM
Mathews + Associates Architects
Clydesdale, Pretoria
The Afrikaans Hoër Meisieskool Pretoria's original hall, completed in 1927, was the first Afrikaans secondary school in the old Transvaal Province, playing a significant role in the development of Afrikaans as an academic language. By the 1950s, the hall became too small, leading to the construction of a new hall in 1960. Over time, the original hall was repurposed into a library, which led to alterations that disconnected the space from its intended design. The main entrance was closed, and various additions and clutter obscured the architectural integrity of the space.
A restoration project aimed to return the hall to its former glory, timed to coincide with Afrikaans’ centenary as an official language in 2025. The project focused on clearing clutter, restoring the original architectural features, and enhancing the hall’s main axis, which culminates in a stained-glass window. Modern updates such as LED lighting and integrated air conditioning were discreetly added. Following the Burra Charter principles, the hall was revitalized as the Gedenksentrum, a multifunctional space serving as a staffroom, function venue, and gallery for important school artefacts. The refurbishment honors both the historical and contemporary significance of the space, fitting the school’s motto, "Ek sien haar wen" (I see her win).
HOUSE LE ROUX -MARAIS
Earthworld Architects
Waterkloof Ridge, Pretoria
As we honor South Africa’s architectural heritage, Earthworld Architects & Interiors proudly highlights a pioneering project by Anthony Carden (Tony) Doherty from 1967, a time coinciding with the Minitoria and Pretoria Art Museum. Doherty’s introduction of aluminium-framed doors and windows was a bold move that set a new standard in modern architecture.
Doherty’s innovative use of aluminium framing allowed for expansive glass panels, integrating indoor and outdoor spaces and significantly enhancing both aesthetic and functionality. His design philosophy, rooted in modernist ideals, blended harmoniously with South Africa’s unique context, creating a lasting architectural impact.
In a testament to this legacy, Earthworld Architects & Interiors recently completed a meticulous renovation of Doherty’s masterpiece. The residence was carefully disassembled, serviced, and reassembled to honor the original 1967 design. During this process, new travertine floors were installed, which complement the preserved Kiaat parquet flooring and mimic the existing gravestone granite strip inlay floors. This careful attention to detail ensures that the renovation maintains the authenticity of the original materials while enhancing the home’s historical integrity.
This project not only preserves but also celebrates the architectural advancements of Tony Doherty, showcasing a seamless integration of past and present. Earthworld Architects & Interiors remains committed to honoring architectural heritage through thoughtful restoration and innovation.
APEX STUDIOS
GASS Architecture Studios
Braamfontein, Johannesburg
As the first recipient of the SAPOA Student Accommodation Award, Apex Studios reflects the
contribution to well-designed and executed urban architecture that GASS aims to produce, and
we are proud to set a standard for this building typology. Apex studios form part of the new
national THRIVE Student Living Portfolio of buildings and promotes a student living experience
with a variety of support and communal spaces and offerings.
CONTEXT, SITE INFORMATION & BACKGROUND
This particular site is in a bustling part of Johannesburg and in close proximity to the main WITS
university campus. This site is well situated only 300 meters from the entrance to WITS university
main campus (Yale Road entrance) which equates to a comfortable 5 minute walk. The site is
located alongside the M1 De Villiers Graaf Motorway to the west, with two other major roads that
run past the site – Jorrisen Street (to the north) and De Korte Street (to the east).
The site is centrally located and close to lifestyle amenities such as shops, food outlets, petrol
station and places of cultural interest (galleries, entertainment areas). The surrounding area is
predominately mixed-use developments consisting of various educational institutions, corporate
buildings and multiple student accommodation residences
MARKET THEATRE REFURBISHMENT
Offiice 24-7 ARCHITECTURE
Newtown, Johannesburg
These interior spaces have over the last years undergone many renovations. The heritage methodology for these interior spaces was to remove unnecessary internal walls and expose and reinforce the original structural ordering system where possible. A large component of the work was to remove interior layers from the last 45 years that were serving no functional or heritage purpose.
At the Barney Simon Theatre two bands on either side of the black box theatre were added to allow for stage wings and sound lobbies. Five new doorway openings were constructed to allow for a variety of seating configurations while still allowing audience and actor access and complying with fire escape requirements. A new lightweight aluminium rostrum system allows for easy reconfigurations and excess components are housed in a new directly adjacent storage room. A rearrangement of the actors changing rooms and bathrooms allows for more efficient planning and a usable rehearsal room framed by the heritage arched window.
At the Ground Floor we removed the 1983 restaurant and kitchen in order to open-up this area, expose the original columns and to form a large flexible event space, bar and cabaret venue. The front canopy, the foyer and the bar also received an interior upgrade. A smaller serving kitchen straddles the event space and the bar.
CCJ AUCKLAND PARK FITNESS CENTRE
Rebel Base Collective
Auckland Park, Johannesburg
The re-imagined gym sits within the spirit of the original buildings, not disrupting the old proportions and clipping itself into the Art Deco and Edwardian features. The aim was to create a destination state of the art facility which fits into the legacy of The Country Club Johannesburg.
The front garden of the gym has been enclosed with a modern addition that both respects the existing façade whilst also breathing some much-needed life into the current gym facility. The extension is made constructed of two planes of cast concrete flat roofs, one connects underneath the existing top windows and heritage breeze blocks the other just beneath the gutter line of the existing roof, to allow maximum natural light and volume. Rough timber shuttered concrete walls, house a water garden, like the patio, with glazed curtain wall along the entrance.
The existing internal walls have been demolished to create an expansive open plan with a clear view and access from one end of the building to the other. This allows for the west facade to open onto a view of the pool and panoramic views of the breath-taking club grounds to the North. This was previously a visually inaccessible male change room.
The men’s change room has been relocated to create a single ablution block. The woman’s change-room upgrades the dated one into an elegant and effortless space. The change rooms have been reconfigured with plush finishes whilst fitting within the existing external, heritage design features. The change rooms have a sense of warmth and are a unique functional offering, with a real care in the detailing that even extends to the custom, hand drawn Joburg skyline wallpapers.
This building has views over the new Padel courts which are connected to the gym, pool and patio via a sculpted paved pathway that borders the new winding indigenous gardens. This path replaces an old road with a new piece of landscape that integrates and challenges the old heritage of the club.
NEW SS MENDI MEMORIAL
Mayat Hart Architects
Avalon Cemetry, Soweto
The SS Mendi, a World War 1 troopship carrying members of the South African Native Labour Contingent to the front in Europe, was tragically sunk in the English Chanel in February 1917. Over 600 men lost their lives in the icy waters making it South Africa’s largest maritime tragedy to date. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the tragedy the City of Johannesburg decided to upgrade and expand its existing memorial, a modest wall listing the names of those who had lost their lives. The making of a memorial is never a simple act of concretising memory or honouring lost lives.
A memorial is always a political and emotionally charged structure. The creation of the new extended SS Mendi memorial attempts to navigate this difficult terrain. The memorial is sited at a high point in Avalon Cemetery, one of the largest graveyards in South Africa. From here it has sweeping 180 degree views south across the sea of graves. The first decision when designing the new memorial was to retain and honour the existing memorial wall as a sign of respect to both it and its vision. It is not a grand construction, built by community members in the 1990s out of a combination of face brick and sandstone blocks. The new memorial, in turn, takes its material language from the existing. A palette of face brick, honed granite and off-shutter concrete are used. While common construction materials, they were chosen because of their contextual appropriateness and durability. In addition to this their intentionally intricate use, especially in the integrated narrative artwork, required hands-on, precise and labour-intensive construction. This made the act of building the memorial in itself a form of homage.
Conceptually the memorial is seen as a physical and spatial experience rather than the traditional memorial as an object. While the memorial can be seen as a hypothetical ship navigating the landscape of the cemetery, it is designed to be a space that is inhabited and used. The memorial is made up of a large raised platform connecting the original memorial wall with new brickwork panels and niches, housing built-in seating and display panels that explain the often-forgotten history of the South Africa Native Labour Contingent as well as the SS Mendi. This is topped by a slender off-shutter concrete pergola. The pergola creates a sense of enclosure and separation for the visitor to the monument while also framing and focusing views of the cemetery. The use and occupation of the memorial, be it for commemorative functions, school visits or as a backdrop to funeral services allows it to become a living site of memory, interpreted and re-imagined by its users.
CRESTHILL
Location of Cresthill : Hillbrow
15 Pietersen St, Hillbrow, Johannesburg, 2001
Cresthill, a 14-storey apartment building located in Hillbrow was designed by Harold Le Roith &
Partners in 1955. Le Roith graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1935. He was one
of the first group of architects influenced by Martienssen at Wits. He started his practice in 1935 and
ran a successful commercial practice designing hundreds of buildings in Johannesburg.
They were known for their innovative modernist approach to structures, in particular the exploration
of ‘thin’ slabs and cantilevering slabs. In Cresthill, this is given expression in the concrete
cantilevering balconies and walkways which taper to extremely thin fine edges.
The Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC), a social housing company, acquired the building in 2000
from the City of Johannesburg as part of the ‘Bad Buildings Programme’. However, it took 6 years for
the acquisition process and all legal processes to be concluded. During this period the building was
hijacked and illegally occupied. The building deteriorated, and in 2006 JHC finally concluded the
purchase of the building for a sum of R1 and took control of the building. At the time of this
refurbishment, the building was in a dire condition. The fabric of the building; steel curtain walling to
the walkways and the staircase was rotten and the building had no functioning services. The lift core
had 4 floors of rotting refuse in it. The objective of the upgrade was to bring the building back into
functional use as social housing whilst maintaining the architectural character and intentions of the
aesthetic. Had this not been done, the building most certainly would have deteriorated beyond the
point of retrieval. The project was by no means a ‘restoration’ and the budgets precluded the
replacement of certain elements such as the exterior stairwell glazing with the same materials.
In 2018, the JHC took the decision to once again revamp the building. In response to a situation of
overcrowding where units had been subdivided, a decision was taken to reconfiguration the internal
layouts of the units to make separate bedroom areas.
In addition, the entire balcony façade onto Twist Street composed of asbestos panelling was to be
removed and replaced. The elevation treatment of each balcony module is a careful composition of
balcony balustrade screen, zigzag steel balustrade and vertical screen expressing the modular
composition of the unit modules. The elevational colour treatment was the subject of a series of
compositional studies by Le Roith. It was these studies together with photos of the building from the
Le Roith Archive that informed the replacement panelling and colour palette. The building
refurbishment was completed in 2019/2020. The building stands within the
Consent from Client to inspect the work
Consent for the work to be visited has been given by Elize Stroebel CEO Johannesburg Housing
Company. Note as this is a building occupied by families who call it home , there are sensitivities to
visiting the building and this must be arranged with the Client.
