1 Sandton Drive
Workspace, Office, Sectional Title, Speculative
1 Sandton Drive started life as a super-scale sectional title office scheme. The planning allowed for small offices to benefit from the visibility and exposure from one of the most prominent sites in the commercial heart of Southern Africa. The parking shuttle lifts arrive in the centre of each of the internal atria, thereby always keeping the atrium active. Internal suspended bridges connect the varoius ‘pods’ providing a number of different space and size configurations.
Client: Investec
Location: Sandton, Johannesburg, SA
Size: 38,000m2 + 1700 parking bays
Cost: £30 million
Status: Completed (2008)
The huge parking requirement over 5 basement levels on a steep sloping site, meant that the embankment designed to conceal the basement became a large feature in its own right. The levels and podium design were carefully considered to plan a future bridge, designed to allow high level connectivity to the adjacent shopping mall .
The planning of the offices saw the internalization of the toilets, allowing tenants to have their own dedicated toilets, without compromising continuous views and light on the perimeter. The lower levels allowed for small module tenants. The upper level design provided for the inclusion of large tenant users complete with access floor, internal atria and skylights.
One of the quickest growing property funds at the time saw the value of the development and purchased the entire scheme. The building still attracts A-grade tenants, with excellent rentals 13 years after its completion.
