5 minute read
Mall with a local focus
Photography Tristan McLaren
Thavhani Mall, a 50 000m2 regional shopping centre, is located in the centre of Thohoyandou in Northern Limpopo and has been carefully planned since its inception to offer substantial and meaningful benefits for the local economy.
The entrances of Thavhani Mall in Thohoyandou in Northern Limpopo feature brightly coloured glass entrance lobbies with patterns referencing the colourful vernacular artwork and fabrics endemic to the area.
Donald McGillivray, the MDS Architecture partner who headed up the project, says that Thavhani Mall is the focal point of the large mixed-use urban precinct mega development, Thavhani City, which is being developed on a 27ha site in Thohoyandou. The precinct includes an office park, a value shopping centre, motor showrooms, medical clinic and a hotel with conference centre. “As such, the Thavhani City Precinct is likely to create a new city centre for Thohoyandou. Our shopping centre design incorporates an option for a further 20 000m2 extension as part of phase two of the existing shopping centre,” he says.
The building is located on a prominent site on the junction of the R524 (Road to Makhado) and the new Giyani road (linking Giyani to Sibasa). It is accessible by well-established roads from Makhado, Giyani, Sibasa and the surrounding rural areas.
The double-level shopping centre is anchored by four major tenants: Superspar, Pick n Pay, Woolworths and Edgars, supplemented by other national tenants, including household names Truworths and Foschini, as well as upmarket niche fashion brands.
Entrances and exterior treatment
Thavhani Mall features five entrances – two on the upper level and three on the lower level. The entrances to the mall feature high-volume canopies held up by abstract structures that evoke the language of the baobab tree. The entrance design is mindful of the concept of pause and gathering. “The entrances resemble shaded, sculptural baobab trees under which visitors may pause before they enter,” says McGillivray.
Bright colours have been incorporated into glass entrance lobbies to reference the colourful vernacular artwork and fabrics endemic to the area. Lighting at the entrances draws visitors into the building. “Wind lobbies coming off each entrance have coloured vinyl, creating a lingering glow in the evening. During the day, colour glows into the mall are created by sunlight surrounding the entrances,” explains McGillivray.
The exterior finish of the building is a combination of painted bagging in earthy tones and face brick in terracotta and beige satin. “Given the high humidity and rainfall in the area, maintenance was a consideration in the selection of finishes,” says McGillivray.
Interior spaces
The mall’s interior features double-volume spaces. McGillivray says, “Openings have been created in the floors to allow the abstract trees to push through to the upper level from below.”
The double-volume main circulation courts are bathed in natural light from high-level clerestory windows, and each features its own theme, for example, the Edgars court features eye-catching lights made of inverted terracotta pots (top) and the central court was given tube light fittings to give it scale (bottom left).
There has been a conscious effort to create as much natural light as possible, which was achieved by the inclusion of high-level clerestory windows. The building is completely lit by the natural light from these windows during the day and complemented by accent lighting.
A pixelated leaf floor pattern has been incorporated into the floor of the mall, as if to create the illusion that the abstract trees have shed their leaves. The colour palette is a timeless black-and-white combination, which adds a contemporary feel to the shopping centre. It is infused with earthy blues, browns and greens and vibrant splashes of orange, yellow, blue and red to uplift the monochromatic scheme through mall furniture.
The three main circulation courts are double volume and bathed in natural light from clerestory windows wrapping around the high-level perimeter, and each of the courts has its own aesthetic theme. The Edgars court references the earthly terracotta via an eye-catching light feature made of terracotta pots turned upside down. The Woolworths court has a custom-made light fitting constructed with Consol jars by Optique lighting, while the central court – the main feature court for promotions – was given tube light fittings to give it scale. The central court also includes a glazed feature lift.
Food offering and other facilities
An interesting aspect of Thavhani Mall is that it doesn’t include a dedicated food court. Instead, focused food offerings are clustered around the entrances. “The upper level at entrance four is where visitors will find fast food outlets, while entrance five features restaurants. Entrance three is also focused on food and the other two entrances on the lower level are banking areas.”
Queues for banking ATMs are a common sight during peak times in Limpopo, where banking outlets tend to be used differently than in many of South Africa’s urban areas. For this reason, another distinctive feature of Thavhani Mall’s design is its treatment of ATMs, which are located outside the shopping centre with shaded outside areas as well as screening. Patrons can queue outside the mall, which avoids impeding the entrances during peak times. There are a series of various bank ATMs at each upper level entrance, with additional dedicated ATMs in-branch inside the centre.
Three pad sites were incorporated into the Thavhani Mall precinct, including two drive-through restaurants (McDonald’s and Nando’s) as well as a Sasol fuel station.
Prayer room facilities are available at Thavhani Mall and there are two large ablution facilities on each level. Each block includes male and female and diaper-changing facilities, parent and child, and disabled facilities. McGillivray says that the ablution facilities have a distinctly upmarket feel. “The design includes an unusual configuration to make smaller areas work better, using central islands with vanities in the middle of the area so that guests can walk around them for easy circulation patterns,” he says.
As temperatures in Thohoyandou soar to highs of up to 50°C in summer with moderate winters, the interior is climate-controlled. All clerestory windows on the south side are well insulated to ensure no heat build-up and unnecessary glare. In addition, the massive canopies at entrances ensure heavy shading.
Thavhani Mall has domestic water/fire tanks, ensuring that its water supply is fully backed up. It also has backup generators and many tenants have their own individual generators as well. The onsite borehole is used for irrigation and has a shutoff valve that can be opened if the domestic tanks run out of water.
“Insulation has been carefully planned along with natural lighting in the building, which serves to reduce power requirements for artificial lighting,” explains McGillivray.
The lighting at the entrances is designed to draw visitors into the building, and during the day, colour created by sunlight surrounding the entrances glows into the mall.
Professional Team
CLIENT: Flanagan & Gerard; Thavhani Property Investment (Pty) Ltd; Vukile Property Fund Limited TENANT CO-ORDINATOR: Orion Project Managers ARCHITECT: MDS Architecture QUANTITY SURVEYOR: Norval Wentzel Steinberg STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: L & S Consulting CIVIL ENGINEER: L & S Consulting ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: Taemane Consulting Engineers MECHANICAL ENGINEER: Q-Mech Consulting Engineers FIRE CONSULTANT: Specialised Fire Technology WET SERVICES CONSULTANT: Kyle & Associates LANDSCAPING CONSULTANT: Gauflora MAIN CONTRACTOR: WBHO Construction
