JOHANNESBURG - The Mall of Africa, seen as the largest retail development to be built in a single phase in Southern Africa, achieved further prestige at this year’s Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA) Awards. The flagship 131 000 m² mall was announced as the winner of the Engineering Excellence Award for projects with a value greater than R250 million.
The Midrand City Centre has changed dramatically in recent years and continues to evolve as residents’ needs change. Since it’s opening in April 2016, the Mall of Africa has become a key retail, hospitality and entertainment hub of choice for locals and tourists.
Atterbury Property Group appointed Aurecon for the design, documentation and construction supervision related to the civil and structural engineering of the mall. The original design brief was for the Mall of Africa to set a new benchmark in retail design that would put South Africa and Africa on the map in terms of retail development.
“Our goal was to combine excellent architecture and leasing expertise on the project, which would lead to a new urban framework, one that would be a catalyst for a new CBD in Midrand. We are proud of what has been achieved and want to thank everyone who contributed to the project’s success,” says James Ehlers, MD of Atterbury’s development arm.
“3D modelling of underlying rock profiles was done to ensure the most economical bulk earthworks design, and enabled the team to develop different founding solutions and retaining structures for different areas on the site. Instead of having a generic design approach to the structural elements, the design team reviewed different structural concepts for different areas in the building to ensure the most economical design was introduced for each of the different areas,” says Gerhard Saayman, Aurecon Professional Engineer.
MDS Architects’ vision for the design of the Mall draws inspiration from the natural and geological beauty of Africa.
A variety of unique elements such as wide passages, a ‘column-free’ mall design, high shopfronts, an undulating roof feature in the middle with specialist animated LED lighting, and a large public space with restaurants known as the Town Square, makes the Mall of Africa a unique addition to the 1.73 million square metre Waterfall City development in Midrand.