OxGlen buildings show respect for heritage

An interesting chance find by a member of the public some years back has led to a happy outcome for both natural landscape and heritage architecture.

The Heritage Register and Renderings by LYT Architecture

The two newest buildings in the OxGlen precinct, located on the increasingly vibrant intersection of Oxford and Glenhove roads in Rosebank, are complete and targeting a 4-Star Green Star SA Office v1.1 Design rating from the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA).

Perhaps best known for the impressive slanted glass facade on Oxford Road, the precinct is now home to Coca-Cola and Sappi’s new South African headquarters. The newest buildings, known as OxGlen Block 3 and Block 4, are located between these offices and have incorporated many of their best performing features, together with some of their architectural details. Senior sustainable building consultant at Solid Green Consulting, Annelide Sherratt, explains that the Green Star process was managed as one Multiple Building certification.

In addition to the development’s considerable green building attributes, which include the project targeting innovation points for financial transparency, a purposeful “new business as usual” approach has benefitted the outdoor environment and gives a nod of respect for the heritage aspects of the area.

Thanks to the Gautrain servitude, which runs below Oxford Road, the buildings are set far back from the street. Rather than privatising the space and closing it off to the public, the developer chose to include green spaces and coffee shops to boost opportunities for passive surveillance and enjoyment of the urban environment.

Landscaping measures Taking pride of place in the courtyard of one of the new buildings is a majestic Pin Oak tree, which is estimated

to be over 100 years old and had to be protected. Sherratt explains that respect for the tree played a large part in the design of the precinct, and it forms the focal point for sightlines and walkways through and around the buildings. Preservation of the tree also extended underground, where its ancient roots meant that the entire basement had to be designed around it.

‘This wasn’t always easy,’ adds John Barrow, of the developers, Barrow Properties. ‘The site shares a common super-basement and making the various levels work posed a complicated but interesting challenge to the professional team.’

Ordinarily trees are celebrated for their beauty and ability to produce the oxygen we breathe as well as the social and psychological benefits they bring. In Johannesburg, especially, they are even more treasured as the city prides itself on being one of the largest manmade urban forests in the world.

Heritage While sometimes posing challenges to development, the Oxford-Glenhove precinct has respected its history and heritage. During phase 1, a historic trigonometrical beacon that had become covered by grass and rubble, was exposed and restored. While it may simply look like an old round concrete pillar to most, it dates back to around 1897, when it was erected to mark the intersection of three of the historic farms of Johannesburg; Braamfontein, Klipfontein (now Houghton) and Syferfontein (now Melrose). It now forms a prominent part of the landscaping of the precinct along Oxford Road and is even a geocache location.

Around 1897, it is thought that the owner of the farm Syferfontein, HB Marshall, wanted to clearly indicate the

border of his farm and organised that a beacon (that looks like a trig beacon) be erected at the border between three farms – Syferfontein, Braamfontein and Klipfontein. At the time, that point was in Oxford Road and when the road was built, it was moved to the pavement along the same land-surveying lines. Over decades, the beacon became forgotten. [Source: www.geocaching.com]

The owners of the property worked with their professional team and moved the original beacon from the pavement to a prominent spot in the gardens of the OxGlen complex. The beacon now displays a sign showing the prior boundaries of the three agricultural properties.

It was reported in The Star newspaper in 2017 that Werner Kirchoff, who lives in Melrose and is a retired professional land surveyor, discovered the old beacon in 2014, after it had been buried under grass for many years. In earlier times, Kirchoff said that, as a child, he used to see the beacon during his daily bus ride.

The original beacon is an ordinary rather grey looking old round concrete block but does have considerable historical significance. The new owners of the property have now marked the significance of the beacon by erecting a small memorial with an information plaque detailing its background.

On this project, Clive Jearey, architectural director at LYT Architecture, comments that he particularly enjoyed being able to consider the whole block as an opportunity to create an interconnected series of buildings, with shared landscaping and street furniture that contribute to a compelling urban fabric. Each block is designed as sectional title and offices are arranged around open, landscaped courtyards that allow the buildings to connect to nature.