阿斯坎迪斯医疗办公室、仓库丨南非约翰内斯堡丨AOJ Architects & Interiors

Architect：AOJ Architects & Interiors

Location：Boundary Park, Roodepoort, South Africa; | ;View Map

Project Year：2018

Category：Offices;Warehouses

This landmark project is situated on a prime corner of the Boundary Park Industrial Park development in Northriding, Johannesburg. The site location, coupled with the tenant’s large staff compliment, led to a somewhat unconventional office to warehouse ratio of 60:40 instead of the more typical 90:10 ratio. 'This model is seemingly becoming more common nowadays with a shrinking global economy and improvements in technology. Many large companies with distribution facilities are downsizing and consolidating their operations,' says Alessio Lacovig of AOJ Architecture & Interiors.

The tenant, Ascendis Medical, needed to consolidate three facilities into one to optimize operations and improve business efficiencies. This large and rather complex program was strategically distributed by AOJ over three floors of offices, totaling 6 500 m². Apart from a strong focus on sustainability, the office was designed around two key principles from the onset: user experience and the creation of a statement building.

In the design, the office footprint was shaped around an irregular open courtyard to increase the perimeter façade. This maximizes the building’s presence from the adjacent street intersection, increases the amount of natural daylight entering the building, and enhances the external views from within the building. Both the shape of the courtyard and the longer perimeter façade result in a building that appears even larger from the major intersection on which the building is located. The highly intricate and impressive glass corner entrance is the most striking architectural element of the building; shaped to improve passive solar control of the triple-volume entrance foyer.

AOJ’s directive to make the building as prominent as possible, and the site conditions, whereby the building sits elevated from the road intersection, made it possible to include a 2 000 m² basement parking level, simultaneously improving earthwork cut-to-fill ratios and stormwater management. This elevation of the building also gives the main foyer and its linked walkways on all floors fantastic views of the buildings surroundings. 'Maybe this was lucky in a way, but it ultimately came about from considering the design early on in the process and thinking of how we could make the most out of the communal spaces,' says Lacovig.

The Ascendis building was the first of four designed by AOJ at Boundary Park. 'In order to secure Ascendis as a tenant, Orpen Group, the developer, first needed to illustrate the potential of the development and the site to them, which led to an initial design pitch by AOJ to Ascendis for the building. 'This pitch clearly went really well,' notes Lacovig. The final result a 13 000 m² head office facility that not only meets the functional needs of Ascendis but also stands as a landmark building for the Bounrary Park development along the bustling Malibongwe Drive. The building, with its strategic layout, innovative façade, and internal functionality, embodies a harmonious blend of form and function, ensuring its enduring significance in the corporate landscape.

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