AngloGold Ashanti Head Office
Workspace, Office, Head Office, Adaptive re-use
The Turbine Hall, North and South Boiler Houses provided electricity to the city of Johannesburg for decades. A private developer bought the unused property, and waiting for the right opportunity. AngloGold Ashanti were looking for a head office in the lively Newtown precinct in Johannesburg’s CBD. An award winning integration of a sympathetic new P-grade office building adjacent and within the existing structure proved to be a remarkable opportunity. The new Turbine Hall office component stood as a free-standing glass building within the hall; independent of its structure. The origianl turbine hall space can therefore be appreciated in its entirity.
Client: Tiber Developments
Location: Newtow, Johannesburg, SA
Size: 21,000m2 + 900 parking bays
Cost: £38 million
Status: Completed (20007)
The old and new were integrated carefully. The honest use of materials in the new additions allowed the building to blend together. The use of natural light unified the spatial experience. Careful attention was payed to the circulation and planning, in order that one could move between the old and new without realizing the differences.
Simple efficient planning in a ‘donut’ figure-8 allowed the users to move easily through the spaces, never far from a colleague. The interior furniture was bespoke purpose designed to allow for the particular functioning of the mining head office of the time.
