Growthpoint delivered ABSA's new Ridgeside Office Park headquarters on a turnkey basis, consolidating a Durban CBD tower and several satellite offices into a single 700-person building.
From a CBD tower to a landmark office park
A decade after refurbishing ABSA's existing Durban CBD office block, the bank outgrew the building and moved to consolidate it with several satellite offices into a single new head office. Growthpoint Properties delivered the project on a turnkey basis in uMhlanga's Ridgeside Office Park, with Elphick Proome Architects designing a building for up to 700 staff across two deep floor plates, a marked shift from the narrow, vertical city tower it replaced.
A five-storey reception atrium anchors the building on its office-park side, reached via a cascading landscaped staircase, while an exoskeleton of shaped louvres is tuned separately to each façade's solar orientation. The 35m-deep floor plates are linked by two roof-lit circular atria with helix stairs, bringing daylight into the centre of the plan.
Spoormaker's role
Spoormaker & Partners was the mechanical engineer on the project, part of a team that also achieved a four-star design and as-built Green Star rating for the completed building.