Housing in Southern Africa

July 2015

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

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

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.

■

Baywest

Mall

Baywest Mall’s uncomplicated, futuristic design will bring the

fun back to shopping trips, says Derick Henstra, Chairman of

dhk Architects.

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

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.”

■

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.

Infrastructure & Mixed Use