I am busy working on this project so I thought it would be nice if a started a thread for it. I recently attended a site braai, so I went abit early so I could get some shots of the structure. All in all the building is turning out to look rahter nice. Its a mix development, Shops on the ground floor & level -1.
Level 1 will be office's. Level 2-9 is apartments from 1bedroom up to 4 bedroom penthouses. On level 4 there is a common swimming pool & patio area. Parking goes right up to level 3. there are two rises to this building, the one facing Gateway rise's to level 5, whilst the riser on the side facing the sea go's up to level 9. Currently the building is sitting at level 5.

This picture is taken from level 1, overlooking the Ground floor entrance area
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9485/dsc000264bw.jpg

I took this picture on Ground floor looking up at the structure
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/80/dsc000280sl.jpg

This is a picture of the entrance from the inside of the building ( the light was pretty bad, hence the dark patches)
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2151/dsc000296up.jpg

I took this pic standing on the road, I couldnt fit the whole building in the pic becasue of its size & they were pouring concrete at the Aurora's & I didnt want to get hit by wet concrete!
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/2576/dsc000309ms.jpg

Heres a pic of the right hand side of the building, & u can see level -1 at the bottom with the 3 shops
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/7889/dsc000310zu.jpg

Finally, heres a picture of the lift shaft foyer rising into the sky's for the 9 storey block
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/2694/dsc000322zc.jpg

Do you have any renders of this building? Is it 9 stories high?

i have been looking for a render on this one for ages! that is why i never created a thread for it, cos i had nothing to show. The site is also rather inaccessable to the public, for the road is closed off...luckily durbsboi has his contacts!

A render would be great!

sorry guys no renders, & yes the building is going to be 9 storeys high, all I have is sections & elevations of the building, but they are part of main plans & unfortunatlly I am not allowed to post that info, very confidential!

Where is this building going to be?

Umhlanga New Town Centre, Its infront of Gateway. on Aurora Drive

do u have any idea what stores will be moving in and how much retail/office space there is in the building?

Well up to now, I know there is going to be 2 food outlets, one on level -1 & the other on ground floor. There might be a dental practice too, on the first floor there is going to be a "womans only" gym (but its facing the road, so hopefully we can get nice views, I know the guys staying at the Aurora's will have a nice view!) get more info on exact square meterage later.

do you know when it is planned for completion? also what colour is it too be? cos in the one render i did have it had lots of colour on it!!

this is the only render i have...have never put it up cos it is not clear...but it might give u an indication of what the building will look like

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c128/dysan1/render.jpg

^^ I really like it! Simple and cheerful and modern. Not overdesigned, and cute proportions

The project should be complete by this year, the site is stilled closed. Work will commence next week. Not sure of the colours as yet, will get in touch with the architects on that one.

hey durbsboi...any idea of the stores coming in as the building must surely be aiming for a july completion?

^^ Actualy they supposed to be completed already, the dam prject manager doesnt know wat he wants! they are forever changing the ceiling & lighting layouts there, but for now I can say there is a sandwhich bar going in level -1, ground floor there is a pizza shop in front, right by the entrance, a restaurant is going in right in the end of the walkway, a dentist is also opening practice there, on level1 there is a woman only gym facing the road. This place is a mess! the architects drawings are a flop! everyones conduits & piping are coming up in the wrong place cause the building drawings & the working drawings are different, cant wait for this one to end!!!

sounds chaotic

sounds chaotic
Dont ask, but I must say with all this bother, the building is looking wuite nice, level 6 is going up now & soon they will be pouring level 7. The pool area on level 4 should be nice, they originally planned for an olympic size pool there!

i walked past yesterday, and it looks great from the street. will go back 2m if it is sunny and get some pictures! and in Horizon View nextdoor, there is an AMAZING deli and bakery!

I know about the bakery & deli we did the design for that last year, it all the same owner, Horizen Views, Ridgeton Towers Really nice big plots they had to play with.

Horizon views must rate as the crappest building in Umhlanga tho...it is hideous!!!

hey i heard that a Ducati store and cafe is opening in aurora drive!! will it be in this building?

^^Sorry boet, doubt it will be in here. But then which other building can it be in Aurora drive, will ask the guys on site. Will notify you if its in here but seriously doubt it, the dam architect doesnt want to give me the tenant list of the shops.

So far its still the same,

level -1 -> sandwhiche bar
level 0 -> pizza shop, dentist, restaurant
level 1 -> Womans only gym, majid dawoods BIG office

then it could be in The Block...but i know for sure that it is occupying space in aurora drive

OK, so ive taken a drive past Ridgeton Towers and it seems like to me that the Ducati store IS in the Ridgeton Towers Complex....

Do you guys have any idea when this project will be completed? We have an apartment there and i just cant seem to wait :D

Also, would it be possible for anyone to post any pics of the building?

Hey Dude, welcome to da Forum, uh what floor & what type flat have you bought?
giv me those details, & I can let you know, you can pvt message me

welcome DUDE :)

Thanx for the info! Yeh will get some more pics this week...

yes...the ducati store is there...Umhlanga thread for details... :)

Hey, thanks for the welcome n stuff guys....

Just wanted to know, can anybody tell me what the pool area of this complex is like? Better yet, can anyone post any pics ?

Only Durbsboi has site access....but he prob doesnt even know there is a pool :)

Hey I know if there is a pool, & yes it is going in, the pool is quite BIG, but the sheer size of the building is so huge that it makes the pool look tiny, it is on level 4 & has a patio to it, they were suppose to put in a water feature , not sure if its going in now, but the latest from site is that the electrics for level is complete & plaster & painting of level should have begun by now, the pooring of level 9 should also be done this week, shops are handed over to thier respective clients for level 0 & level -1.

Will post drawings of the pool layout later.

Okay, I am gonna get shot for this, but the pool is 7,8 meters wide X 23,3meters long.
I took one of the drawings & coloured it, I also took an elevation & coloured it with paint, BUT these colours are not the colours that building will be painted with. Its my own choice :D no I just coloured it so you guys can make out the diffrents parts.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5688/pool9bi.jpg
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/8895/ridgeton8gu.jpg

thanx boy :) alot!!

Wow Durbsboi!! Excellent work man! :D

The size of the pool is quiet huge dont ya think?.....Whats the dimensions of an Olympic size pool by the way ?

olympic pool is 50m long.

But at near on 25m is still a big pool!

hey there...from the render it looks more like 10F than the 6F i thought it was...any idea on height? will it be above 35m? giles wld like that! another building for emporis then! :)

Its 39 meters dysan, from ground floor level 0 to the tip of the roof.
it is actualy 10 storeys level 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, & level -1 so 11 storeys if u want :D . the building is coming out quite nice, we sending a guy to snag level 4 today, so Dude will let you know on how its coming along.

Im just leaving for cairo, will add when Im back along with ABSA parking structure

Good news! Thanx mate! Drove past, too some shots yesterday...looking good...to bad about the chaos in the street infront tho with the work on the other buildings still proceeding, but they look near completion soon too

OK, so i managed to get into the building today....and i must say, this building is HUUUGGEE!! :eek2:


So anyways, it seems that some of the apartments on level for are already completed but overall it looks like there's still a lot of work to be done. I had my phone with me so i managed to snag some pics....

This is the pool...was thinkin bout takin a dip but i didnt carry my shorts :/
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/5572/270520060017dn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


The Pool Area. Looks as though there's going to be a jumping board :D
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4162/270520060039cv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


The Lobby Area. Looks kinda schweeet
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/8771/270520060055og.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Entrance of the lobby area
http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/1919/270520060065pp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

the lights in the lobby look awesome! but the decor is crap! trust the architect for that! looks like I go the dimension fo the pool all wrong, yikes. nopr dude that aint a diving board, its a water feature, thanx for the pics though!

Thanx for the images DUDE :)

Durbsboi...can u give a breakdown of apartment numbers, office and retail space?

Well the decor doesnt look soo bad, my camera just makes it look crappy.

Ive had a look at the view from my apartment on the 4th floor, its sea facing but ive noticed an empty land just in front. There's this 2 huge trees thats blocking most of the view. Any idea if they planning to cut down those trees or are they building something else there ?

^^ The land was sold about 8 months back to a developer...no word as of yet what will be built there

They are round about 114-120 Apartments, exculding the 4 penthouses on the 9th floor,
LvL -1 => 4 shops
LvL 0 => 17 shops & 1 restaurant (not the ducati shop)
LvL 1 => 16 luxury offices.
LvL's 2-8 => apartments, with a pool & patio on lvl 4.
LvL 9 => 4 HUGE penthouses

Well the decor doesnt look soo bad, my camera just makes it look crappy.

Ive had a look at the view from my apartment on the 4th floor, its sea facing but ive noticed an empty land just in front. There's this 2 huge trees thats blocking most of the view. Any idea if they planning to cut down those trees or are they building something else there ?

The land infront was suppose to be the land that Ridgeton & Horizen are built on now, but when the owners ask for the land, the height restrictions where for a 5 floor or was it 4 floor building, hence they were forced to buy this land, to build these monsterous structures. That is why Ridgeton is designed in such a way that tower facing the sea, apartments only start from lvl 4, so that the building that does eventualy come up wont be obscuring your views :D

^^ but whos to say the people in fornt wont apply for rezoning and additional height?

Schweet. For now, i just hope they take down those darn trees. My brother has an apartment on the 7th floor. The views from there are quite awesome...

^^ but whos to say the people in fornt wont apply for rezoning and additional height?
They cant, the height is set, we trued everything & even made it clear to the council that no building should be allowed amnesty

i'm just saying that things cld change...look with the pearls in the village...and many of the new high rises on the berea. they werent all zoned for the heights they are, but they were alowed to...and that spot on umhlanga rocks drive is prime!!! the views there wld be amazing

Well its simple, if they do decide to rezone it, & decide to build higher buildings, we'll have them killed :crazy:

Just spoke to the "site secratary" for Grinaker LTA, shes all pissed of with me :lol: she's hot :naughty:, dont u like it when hot woman start getting all angry at u , they start sweating & ........uh ya getting carried away again:D

ooohh...lol...i love it when women try do it to me...they wonder why it has no effect

^^LOL,

well dude, your flat is going fine, they should be handing it over to you pretty soon,
The fat ass project manger will give you the keys. all I can say is lucky you never buy one of the bachelor flats in the center! those are a mess!

Schweet man :D yeah i've seen the bachelor flats.....totallay horrible. But the one next to me, right at the corner....those are huge flats!!

yeh type A & A1 are flippin HUGE!

When is the whole complex going to be ready? looks to me like they've still got a long way to go....

well they busy pouring level 9 now, so shud be by the end of the year

Ive noticed that on level 4, opposite the pool, there's a huge room. any idea whats that there for? looks like it would be a scwheet place for a gym...

as in infront of the pool? because thates where the patio is going, but I think I know which one you talking about, its the "room" as you walk along the walkway towards the block facing gateway, that actualy a washing area, for drying your undies :D

lol yeah its the same one. hehe, damn, was hoping for a gym, but oh well, an undie washing place is nothing to complain about

Hey dont feel down, theres a womans only gym going in above the Ducatti shop, u can stand & watch :D

rofl...say, do know know where i can get a pair of good binoculars ? :P

Whysall's across the road....

whysalls in the Aurora's :?

thryve can u move this to the projects thread please.

Its almost complete now, just a few things to do in the Penthouse's, but most of it is ready to handover

oh i thought it was already complete. cos the stores are all mainly open

oh i thought it was already complete. cos the stores are all mainly open

well the penthouses arn't complete as yet & the residents still have to occupy the 7th & 8th floor's.