This project involved a new build on a brownfield site at the corner of a busy traffic intersection on the rougher side of town.

The tough character of the neighbourhood informed the decision to create a harder edge to the pavement at the ground floor level. However at the upper level we were able to create small balconies from the staff canteen and the boardroom. This creates some kind of engagement between the occupants and the busy intersection below.

From the start the scale and budget of the project determined that for the most part the building’s construction would be more like a typical warehouse, with a heavier masonry base and a lightweight steel structure and cladding to the upper volume and roof.  Although we did endeavour to finesse this typical warehouse typology in order to produce something far more unique.

Building on the concept of a very hard robust base at the lower level lead to the selection of ‘factory reject’ facebricks, which were also more economical. These bricks had been rejected at the factory due to their shape and colour inconsistencies, which wasn’t a problem once painted black. 

In order to juxtapose the upper half of the building against the dark rough base, we selected smooth white hulabond cladding. In order to create more interest we widened some of the joints between the panels in order to break from the typical hulabond grid and create a far more eye catching pattern. 

Jonnson Workwear have since repeated this material selection and the unique hulabond cladding technique on many of its stores around South Africa, as it has now become part of the brand’s identity.