Rock star

Ditiro House near Rustenburg, designed by MMA Design Studio for the Public Investment Corporation, is as much a statement on local design as it is a catalyst for the redevelopment of the town centre.

Ditiro House, an office building designed to house various government departments in the North West province including Home Affairs, SASSA, and the Department of Labour, represents the first phase of the Tlhabane Mixed Use Precinct, a multi-phased project just outside Rustenburg that is being developed by the Public Investment Corporation.

The broader precinct involves the redevelopment of the 10-hectare old town centre to include a mall, magistrate’s court and a police station, as well as a fuel station and a taxi rank. It is bordered by an existing school and a hospital. Future plans for a hotel with conference facilities are also likely, given the precinct’s strategic position en route to Botswana and the fact that the court will serve as the provincial court as well.

Before its redevelopment, the site included a smaller shopping centre, office building, library and town hall. The precinct provides much-needed upgrades to public infrastructure and buildings, offers improved access to government services, and is designed to revitalise the town centre and catalyse much needed economic development in the region, especially the surrounding township community.

MMA Design Studio was responsible for the precinct plan and the government infrastructure, the first phase of which involves Ditiro House as well as infrastructure for the second phase of development, which will include a magistrate’s court and police station.

Louvres on the western and northern façades not only provide shelter from the harsh light and heat, but also ensure privacy for the nearby houses that Ditiro House overlooks.

A metal screen hovers like a veil above the building's main entrance. Its patterning was inspired by the beading on local garments.

The architects, led by Mpheti Morojele and John Langenhoven, took care to integrate the precinct into the existing street network rather than establish it as an enclave or isolated development. Its urban design is a continuation of the urban grid linking directly with the surrounding township and providing multiple points of access.

Ditiro House, diagonally opposite a mall, which has also been completed, includes an approximately 10 000m 2 of space over five storeys (ground plus four). It is designed around a three-storey atrium, which functions not only as a grand entrance, but also as a shared centre and hub for the various departments and services housed in the office space. MMA’s design also makes use of the rooftop space, which takes advantage of the impressive 360-degree views of the surrounding landscape and koppies.

The stacked, blocklike forms of the building reference the nearby Rustenburg granite quarries.

The screen-like louvers mediate the building's relationship between its immediate context and distant views of the 'platinum belt'.

While the atrium is positioned to interact with the neighbouring buildings and inject energy into the shared public space between them, the rest of the building itself has been designed with considerable sensitivity to both the immediate context (the nearby residential areas it overlooks) and the more distant views of the landscape beyond, the area’s famous ‘platinum belt’. The building’s stacked geometric form was inspired by the massive blocks of Rustenburg granite quarried in the nearby hills. These distinctive, eyecatching features of the landscape make reference to both the geological and economic context of the area.

Impressive cantilevers create the impression that the bulky, block-like forms are floating weightlessly above the ground.

The overlapping arrangement of block-like forms includes some dramatic cantilevers and delicate shadow lines separating them, which produces an impression of lightness, contrasting with their massive bulk – all in all creating a compelling sense of drama in the building’s external appearance, almost as if the massive blocks might be floating.

This contrast between mass and weightlessness is continued in the design of the entrance of the building, where the solidity and bulk of the ‘block’ forms is contrasted with a gradually layered threshold featuring a patterned floating metal screen, almost like a veil, which was inspired by local beaded garments, which have been abstracted in a contemporary interpretation of local traditional design. The layered entrance and openness of the atrium deliberately blur the boundaries between inside and out, which subtly reinforce the intention of the building to connect with its surroundings and belong to the community, rather than drawing a sharp territorial boundary.

A triple-volume atrium not only creates a grand entrance, but also provides a shared space for the various government department housed in the building.

The design of the entrance ‘veil’ is reprised in the louvres, particularly on the western side of the building. The louvres help provide shade against the harsh afternoon light, but also enables a certain blurring of the outlook, which allows a level of privacy for the nearby houses. The massive façades have small apertures for windows to help manage the heat and harsh light characteristic of the climate in North West.

The windows have been positioned to frame particular views around the building, which focus attention through compressed views of the more distant landscape while, at the same time, providing the sense of refuge the building creates from the elements. It’s a thoughtful approach to resolving the relationship between immediate and distant context.

Much of MMA Design Studio’s work over the past several decades has been underpinned by a central question of what it means to be African and how that might be expressed architecturally. In this instance, their solution responds to geographical and climatic context (it was designed to have a four star green star rating) as much as to cultural and heritage considerations. In its construction, it has prioritised the use of local materials and has created opportunities for employment and the transfer of skills. In its conception, however, it goes further to explore a vision of Africa that is as much forward looking and progressive as it is respectful of culture and tradition.

Professional team Architects: MMA Design Studio Project Team: Mphethi Morojele, John Langenhoven, Lemaseya Khama, Liya Tesfaye Gebrewold, Sifiso Radebe, Shorai Kaseke Mechanical Engineers: Bigen Group Electrical Engineers: CKR Consulting Engineers Fire Engineers: Bigen Group Wetworks Engineer: Bigen Group Structural Engineers: FDA Project Mangers: Betts Townsend Taylor Quantity Surveyors: Crane Group Consulting Main Contractors: WBHO