Construction World December 2021

JOHANNESBURG INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT INTERCHANGE (JITI)

A proposal to construct an internat ional long di stance and cross border transport and shopping hub has been on the agenda of the Ci ty of Johannesburg for over 15 years – as the ci ty became a more important trading dest inat ion af ter the bi rth of democracy. However, migrants and thei r fami l ies have had a need to travel safely and access ibly for as long as Johannesburg has exi sted as a formal town. The establ i shment of thi s bui lding aims to restore digni ty to those passengers who tradi t ional ly have been forgotten and neglected by providing them wi th a world class faci l i ty. The need to improve the qual i ty of l i fe of commuters , streaml ine the flow of traf fic and strengthen the commut ing connect ions wi th the rai l ser vice al l indicated that there was an urgent requi rement to develop a new integrated transport faci l i ty wi th good access to Park Stat ion. The underdeveloped Kazerne Taxi faci l i ty provided an opportuni ty for such a faci l i ty. In the context of the strategic importance of thi s s i te, in proximi ty to Park Stat ion and the proposed project to deck the rai lway l ine and connect Braamfontein wi th the inner ci ty, there was an opportuni ty to increase the scale of thi s development . Research and analys i s in the draf t Johannesburg inner ci ty traf fic and transport study had est imated that there were about 190 000 taxi trips (provided by about 5 800 taxi s) and 30 000 bus trips in the morning peak in 2010 in the inner ci ty. Even wi th moderate growth project ions and the shi f t to bus commut ing through the Rea Vaya ser vice, the archi tect expects these numbers to be at about 185 000 taxi trips and 45 000 bus trips in the inner-ci ty morning peak by 2030. The Johannesburg Internat ional Transport Interchange (JITI ) aims to address these major shortages . Prior to developing the concept scheme the des ign team invested a s igni ficant amount of t ime to research the local dynamics and inner workings of the s i te’s immediate sett ing. I t was of paramount importance to ensure that the scheme would seamlessly integrate into the urban context and work in uni son wi th the complex surrounds . Once the context was ful ly understood the various components could be apt ly pos i t ioned. At i ts core, the main purpose of the project was to provide a world-class faci l i ty for long di stance travel lers . Thi s was a segment of society that tradi t ional ly was neglected and never catered for. A series of informal , unsafe, and severely inadequate bus

PROJECT INFORMATION

• Company entering: Urban Soup Architects • Start date: 2016 • End date: 2021 • Client: Johannesburg Development Agency

• Main Contractor: Enza Construction • Architect: Urban Soup Architects • Principal agent: Badat Developments • Project Manager: Badat Developments • Quantity Surveyor: KDM Quantity Surveyors • Consulting Engineer: Hlanganani Consulting Engineers

ranks are dotted throughout the ci ty. These informal ranks act as the ‘ f ront doors’ into the ci ty for those seeking greener pastures . One of the most s igni ficant des igns chal lenges was to safely harmoni se the movement of taxi s , buses , and pedestrians al l under one roof. In order to ass i st wi th thi s process a series of high tech vehicular and pedestrian traf fic models were developed. Thi s al lowed us to s imulate flows and address bott lenecks upf ront . Entrances and exi ts needed to be careful ly cons idered and by adding a dedicated publ ic transport route around the ful l perimeter of the s i te uninterrupted traf fic flows were ensured. One of the key successes of the project was due to the way the des ign team embraced the informal i ty of the context and celebrated i t wi thin the bui lding. They did not s imply impose fi rst world models of transportat ion bui ldings but instead provided us wi th a truly contextual bui lding that responds to i ts complex backdrop. The s i ze and variety of the retai l uni ts ef fect ively provides for economic progress ion. Shops range in s i ze f rom smal l 5 m uni ts right up to anchor store s i zes . Thi s al lows our smal ler retai l tenants to grow and progress to larger shop s i zes as thei r needs expands . Thi s iconic transport hub ser ves as a gateway into Joburg’s inner ci ty. The use of bold colours expressed in the red polycarbonate cladding creates a beacon of l ight in the landscape of the ci ty. Our ins i stence on us ing robust and low maintenance materials was adhered throughout . 

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20 th Best Project Awards 2021