Housing in Southern Africa July 2015

Infrastructure & Mixed Use

Baywest Mall

N ot only does the Eastern Cape’s newest and largest ever entertainment and retail centre span the size of 22 rugby fields, but architects have made sure that Baywest Mall is one of the country’s most enjoyable and futuristic shop- ping centres. Quick access crisscross corridors linking shoppers to both sides of the oval-shaped mall, one of the coun- try’s largest screens in the food court at 24m², and restaurants with table heights to accommodate shoppers in wheelchairs, are all part and parcel of what architects saywill be a shopping experience redefined. An abundance of natural light and ground-breaking green building tech- niques are also part of the centre’s im- pressive features. Henstra and Asso- ciate Director, Joe Struwig, who was the leader architect, explained the psychology behind building a mall, which would excite and entertain, rather than confuse and disorientate. “We have a fresher, newer ap- proach to retail and Baywest Mall is one of those exercises. “It’s a futuris- tic mall. We want it to be a timeless piece of architecture,” says Henstra. The uncomplicated design of the mall achieves two objectives: it en- sures that the mall detracts as little

Baywest Mall’s uncomplicated, futuristic design will bring the fun back to shopping trips, says Derick Henstra, Chairman of dhk Architects.

amounts of natural light into the centre without transferring the heat gain and energy-saving LED lighting throughout the mall. Baywest Mall has 90 000m² of retail space and parking for 3 200 vehicles. The development is a joint venture between Abacus Asset Management and Billion Group. The R1,7 billion mall excluded the R300million spent on developing road networks. Almost 25% of the 320 ha site has been allo- cated for environmental preservation and will not be developed at all. ■ the rollout of Eskom’s new capacity.” He adds that while activity has slowed considerably from the highs preceding the 2010 FIFA World Cup, there has been positive growth in three of the last four years. With real growth in construction investment recorded at 3% in 2011, 11,8% in 2013 and 14% in 2014, the potential for low interest rates is likely to continue to underpin the sector during the rest of 2015. “The larger companies in the sec- tor have already made significant moves to establish international operations, including Africa,” he explains, “and we expect to see this trend gain traction as rising infrastructure investment on the continent also increases demand for skilled and experienced construction talent. We are likely to feel the pinch for some time.” ■

as possible from its natural surrounds and keeps shoppers’ attention on the stores. “The mall has a soft curve, so you can virtually see around the corner. It is also a tight race track, so it doesn’t feel like you are walking for kilome- tres and kilometres. There is also a crisscross, in order to cross over from the one side of the mall to the other very easily.” Green building principles include prismatic diffusers – small open- ings in the roof which transmit large

Infrastructure spend Stakeholders in South Africa’s construction sector continue to anxiously await the materialisation of the proposed R800-billion of public sector investment in the country’s infrastructure over the next three years.

H owever, while this will un- doubtedly be amuch-needed shot in the arm for the coun- try’s ailing construction industry, it should by no means be considered a panacea as the planned investment spend represents little tono growth in infrastructure investment compared to the previous three year period. That is according to John Orford, Portfolio Manager for Old Mutual Investment Group Macro Solutions, who believes that the SA construction sector’s medium-term prospects will

almost certainly face headwinds due to lingering electricity challenges. “While government’s infrastruc- ture development rollout will un- doubtedly means that the construc- tion industry will experience better days in the coming years, any uptick in activity shouldn’t automatically be seen as a cyclical turnaround by investors.” He emphasises, “It’s very likely that any short-term increase in activity will eventually be tempered with sloweconomic growthas a result of energy constraints and delays in

July 2015