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GAPP, in association with Elphick Proome Architects of Durban, has been commissioned by Standard Bank Properties to develop a new office complex and mixed use development as an extension to the existing Standard Bank offices in the Johannesburg CBD. The site is situated on the Southwestern periphery of the CBD, and is bordered by the current Standard Bank office to the East and the M2 overpass to the South.

Most of the buildings on the site date back to the early 1920's-1930's and were established by mining entrepreneur Lancelot Ussher. The site was originally used to supply the mines with equipment and machinery due to its close proximity to them. This industrial function of the site has been kept through the years and is currently occupied by the automotive industry. The fact that the site is one of the few mining related sites left from that time period in Johannesburg as well as the age of the buildings on the site means that a great deal of effort will be needed to retain and upgrade the existing buildings and to incorporate them into the new proposed mixed use development.

The brief entails creating 100 000m² of new office space for Standard Bank, 250 residential units, parking for 6000 vehicles and a retail component and square on the ground floor. The design criteria are to create a much needed social and working environment within the confines of the CBD. The development should be respectful to the historic significance and scale of the existing buildings and incorporate them as an integral part of the development, whilst still creating economical bulk for the client.

Sounds pretty good.

EDIT: Ah...the renders look awesome!

Its what have been waiting for!!! high rise in downtown

This looks good and very promising for the CBD - i like the initial designs.
Its just a pitty its another bank and not something else. But i am sure they are just the start and more will follow.

Awsome news thanks mate.

lets be honest, its only the banks that can afford to take these risks as they basically print their own money with the way they rip us off!

:banana: :banana: :banana: What I have been waiting for!!! Taller buildings for Jo'burg CBD... I'm so happy. I get a lot of flack when I question overdoing Sandton, so I suppose I must add my two cents and say that I'm pleased some are gaining confidence in the traditional CBD. Albeit not a skyscraper as such, it's taller than most of what we've seen there lately and is a very good start. Keep the bigger ones rolling Jozi! :)

Awesome, thanks for this! 100 000m2 is huge! Is this a preliminary design or is it final?
I think 4 medium rises should add some nice density to that part of town

wowie. erm. wow. :)
yay for the Jozi CBD. This is massive.
Thanks Michael. GREAT find!!

wowie. erm. wow. :)
yay for the Jozi CBD. This is massive.
Thanks Michael. GREAT find!!

Brilliant development can,t have asked for anything else.....O wait I can.....the renders looks soooooo bad it like the CBD is reliving its 70's glory days all over again.....and why 4 seperate hi-rise buildings....and there is know concept of intergrated public spaces in this development, I have some serious complants about this .....I mean if you are going to do it, do it FUCKING RIGHT, I guess it is what we want..............I've had a bad day.

This is great, the design is simple, but very sleek. This may be the one project that accelerates even more renewal in the CBD. :cheers:

^^^ yes, thumbs up for Standard Bank. I don't want to be greedy now, but since I am thinking it, why not say it: Why are they planning to build Tweedle Dum and his 3 friends, instead of erecting one tall skyscraper? That would be truly impressive! Come on developers, start thinking out of the box, and do something iconic.

lets be honest, its only the banks that can afford to take these risks as they basically print their own money with the way they rip us off!

True... if there is one thing banks have lots of... it is money :)

Great find! Thanks...

Cool - and I now remember hearing a while ago that Standard has plans for new buildings...

Eish Pule, you should have stayed at Std Bank, check they building new offices now, lol

Haha yeah Pule, you could of got us more info;)
you at Nedbank now right?

^^^ yes, thumbs up for Standard Bank. I don't want to be greedy now, but since I am thinking it, why not say it: Why are they planning to build Tweedle Dum and his 3 friends, instead of erecting one tall skyscraper? That would be truly impressive! Come on developers, start thinking out of the box, and do something iconic.

Do you realise how much more expensive a 60F tower would be than 4 of these in the 18-26F range? ALOT more.

Personally i think that this is a great commitment made by the only people who can, banks.

And i disagree on the design. It is sleek, lots of exposed glass and makes a good statement

Haha yeah Pule, you could of got us more info;)
you at Nedbank now right?


Eish jah neh, you guys guys are telling the truth. But I will see if some of my contacts can get me some info.

Yip, my blood is now green.

Personally i think that this is a great commitment made by the only people who can, banks.

And i disagree on the design. It is sleek, lots of exposed glass and makes a good statement

I fully agree with you mike.

nice find mike,

seems the Joeys inner city CBD gets its first high rise (over 20F) since 1992

Now for First national to follow (ABSA and Std bank) and invest so meore of that easy earned fees

ABSA and FNB are already building thjeir 10 stories, I don't think they will for now consider goin even higher. I think these guys are listening to Annman ;)

Lets hope that the council buys into the idea of renting in the proposed 20+ floors by Old Mutual in the CBD.

fantastic news for the city i'm glad their getting rid of those old buildings where they're planning to build :banana:

Can somebody please tell me the exact location of this project.

Here we go mate, its where all those green roof buildings are.

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k359/Lufcus123/Stndbank.jpg

Thanks Luf.

^^ Np

This is going to be awsome for that area.

But guys, is this project been confirmed? If they start say beginning of next year, it should be completed in say end of 2011?

The Standard Bank employees I spoke to know about this...

Neil Fraser looks down south

Written by Neil Fraser
Monday, 13 October 2008

Standard Bank, I-prop and the Johannesburg Land Company have their sights set on the southwestern quadrant of the inner city, bringing much-needed development to the area.
I ATTENDED a session two weeks ago looking at the future development of the inner city. A couple of things emerged to make one think.

Firstly, one developer spoke passionately about creating a "residential free zone" in the inner city. This would basically be the area south of Commissioner Street stretching from Newtown to the Carlton Centre. He felt that the European/North American model of inner city mixed use wasn't really appropriate for Johannesburg. Interesting issue.

In actual fact, the bulk of residential development has taken place north of Commissioner Street and the amount of residential in the southern area is relatively low at present - but to deliberately create what amounts to the old Americanism of CBD - central business district - requires a great deal of careful thought and is contrary to the generally accepted direction that the inner city is moving in - that of mixed use.

My constant refrain for many years has been that we have laissez faire zoning operating in the inner city that allows anyone to do almost anything anywhere. While this has been to our advantage, resulting in numerous conversions from commercial to residential accommodation - especially north of Commissioner Street - it has also resulted in some slumlording to the south.

There was the case of a developer buying a derelict office block in Frederick Street next to the Standard Bank corporate head office and converting it not just into residential but into something of a slum. If we can't change zonings because of the complications that will result in owners claiming that they are being prejudiced by the removal of certain rights, then we at least need the ability to use the "carrot and stick" approach.

This would provide incentives for certain types of development in certain areas and penalties for undesirable usage in others. But a blanket commercial zone?

Mixed use
"Mixed use" has an interesting history. Historically, human settlements were mixed use. Most people lived in buildings that were not just their place of work but also their homes. Most neighbourhoods offered a diversity of uses with some districts developing towards a specialised use - the fashion district in the inner city would be a modern example of this trend.

Of course, walking would have been the major way of getting from A to B; later this was enhanced by using animals such as horses and cattle.

Densities were high and were determined by the amount of space required for living while movement between different activities was determined by "walkability". That all changed with industrialisation, which saw inner city factories producing substantial pollution but also acting as employment-magnets, drawing the rural poor into the cities in large numbers.

This, in turn, led to overcrowding of working class and poor people and terrible conditions. Poverty and poor services - especially sanitation - rather than high density itself were the culprits. The distancing of commercial and residential uses followed, by separating land uses that had previously occurred in the same space. Cities were, however, "restricted" in size by the fact that the movement of people was by foot.

Mass transit and in particular, private cars, changed all that, resulting in dispersed low density cities where people could live at a distance from their workplaces.

Zoning law
De-industrialisation in the middle to late 20th century no longer provided an impetus for separating residential from noxious industrial use. It was also found that separation by zoning law created isolated islands of different usage.

Mixed use provisions in zoning emerged once again, leading to retail space on the ground floor with residential or offices above. One of the great advocates for mixed use was Jane Jacobs, who argued in The Death and Life of Great American Cities, that mixed use was vital and necessary for a healthy urban area.

The terminology "CBD" came increasingly under fire as urban thinking moved to viewing cities as places where people could live, work and play. In South Africa, the mixed use approach to cities was, of course, dramatically affected by apartheid-planning, leaving our cities as the centres of "doughnut" development with white citizens living in the suburbs and black citizens in townships (usually each in diametrically opposed directions).

Since 1994, mixed use has been seen as a catalyst to normalising and integrating our cities. But, does mixed use mean a total intermingling of residential and commercial uses? The jury is still out on that one.

Southern edge
The second issue that was highlighted at the planning session was the growing importance of the southern edge of the inner city. This has, until now, been artificially delimited by the M1 highway and consists mainly of light industrial usage.

Incidentally, the City is a major landowner in this strip. Standard Bank was probably the first to do a major development in this light industrial band. Over the years its development has grown to some 200 000m2 of office space, catering for 12 500 workers.

Its purchase in 2007 of the Ussher site, just to the west of its existing campus, will ultimately double the area developed to date although it will probably not be confined to office space but will include substantial retail and residential.

To its west, also on the edge of the highway, I-prop will also be developing a major building with significant parking and public space with retail at the lower levels and residential above.

Between the Standard Bank and I-prop developments is a large site currently being used by Pikitup which also needs to be developed or it will form a discontinuity between the new developments. It could also be positively developed as a large public open space which we desperately need, possibly with various social amenities.

This means that there will be a serious amount of residential occurring on the north side of the highway and opens up the possibility of also driving redevelopment further south into Selby up to the Top Star mine dump. But it also gives credence to continuing with residential along this edge in an easterly direction.

Also in the southwestern quadrant where the Standard Bank and I-prop developments will take place, the Johannesburg Land Company is busy developing office space just west of the magistrates' courts. It has about 180 000m2 of rights in this area, of which it is currently developing 10 000m2.

The southwestern quadrant is going to provide a serious amount of future mixed use development and is set to become a major node in the inner city and a focus for more residential provision.

Ciao, Neil

^^ are we sure that this building is located were we saying it will be? According to the bolded statement, a park might be developed and this where we claiming that the new Standard Bank's development will be.

Can someone please clarify.

As per Neil's last article on joburg.org.za, this one is going through so all we need are proper renders. I will ask him as to who are the architects for the project.

Pules, it's GAPP. Their website is http://www.gapp.net, but it's down unfortunately.
I know someone there though so will make some inquiries. It'll indeed be worth finding out if there are more decent renders out there, especially ones that show the overall urban framework.

Ah thanx buddy, I hope they start with construction next year as one of the forumers said it would be nice to have cranes occupying our skylines in 2010 so that visitors and sceptics can see that we mean business.

how do you copy the images from google to here

from google images?

As per Neil's last article on joburg.org.za, this one is going through so all we need are proper renders. I will ask him as to who are the architects for the project.

As per my first post....It is EPA from durban in association with GAPP. EPA did standard banks new kingsmead offices in Durban.

^^^ yes, thumbs up for Standard Bank. I don't want to be greedy now, but since I am thinking it, why not say it: Why are they planning to build Tweedle Dum and his 3 friends, instead of erecting one tall skyscraper? That would be truly impressive! Come on developers, start thinking out of the box, and do something iconic.
I agree.I read once one of the forumers here saying that to build spread out like this costs more to maintain in the long run than to build higher.Don't know if I misunderstood.At least take two of the smaller towers and build one taller one to create a pleasing composition.

I agree.I read once one of the forumers here saying that to build spread out like this costs more to maintain in the long run than to build higher.Don't know if I misunderstood.At least take two of the smaller towers and build one taller one to create a pleasing composition.

It's true. It's cheaper in the longer run to build densely and compact then it is to spread all over the place as you're running utilities up buildings and not outwards hundreds of metres each way.

yes now fnb is next funny thing that the banks were secretly buying up land"cheap" in the cbd when many we're fleeing to the north ....this stuff was all planned by the big boys @ our banks

Great, great news!

Inside info please.

Anybody having updates of this development?

nothings happening here.

^^You mean the project is no more?Say it aint so.

not really sure but bussiness in the area is still going, there's actually a handful of firms including Pikitup no signs of any development.

____ _

passed by there today. There is realy nothing happening at the moment.

yup i have driven past this site many times since i posted the development and nothing has changed...

The financial market turmoil has probably put the brakes on this one and i dont see it happening for a few years now

With banks not going to hire masses of people anytime soon - this development will probably not go ahead. Ah well.

Well that doesnt bother FNB at all.

How so?

They are busy expanding their offices and paking facilities in the same CBD. look at Pule's and my pics at the Joburg discussions.

With banks not going to hire masses of people anytime soon - this development will probably not go ahead. Ah well.

So now is the time to develop, low borrowing rates, low construction costs, hugry contractors and consultants. In Dubai ,Uk and US where I do most of my work, loads of stuff is in developmnet and ts not as bad as its made out in the media

Well according to Std Bank main HR recruitment team, they say their asking to increase numbers?

Well that doesnt bother FNB at all.


Yep indeed, same with ABSA and Nedbank as well... So let's not get too gung ho about it's cancellation.

I'm not worried about this development as I trust Standard Bank. I'm posetive that plans are currently being cooked.

ok, so....
apparently the hold up is RE heritage issues. the green roofed buildings which are proposed for demolition are historically important. the scheme is being reworked to incorporate some of these heritage buildings rather than simply demolishing all of them. the excessive height of the towers has also been criticised and the reworked scheme will be far less vertical.

Oh joy, just what we need. Less height.

Got some one in Standard bank planning will ask her.

Oh joy, just what we need. Less height.

Sad indeed, I'm really in favour of Standard Bank more than those green roofed buildings. I really like heritage buildings and wish the city could embrace and protect them but those once can just go :ohno:

lets hope they find a way to integrate the two aspects of the development