UrbanWorks Architecture and Urbanism, Braamfontein, Johannesburg (2026)

07/10/2021

Hillbrow Tower Precinct
Collab: Indlovukazi Consulting
Year: 2016

Urban renewal in Johannesburg is severely compromised by poor urban management in that it hinder coherent and incremental development. The Hillbrow Tower Precinct at the iconic Hilbrow Tower has attracted significant investment necessitating a innovative Area-Based Management Model. The project presents a institutional arrangement that is directly aligned to a spatial plan that integrates the agency of residents of the neighbourhood. A toolkit for ideation was developed to facilitate residents pioneering their own project initiatives.

07/10/2021

Hillbrow Tower Precinct
Collab: Indlovukazi Consulting
Year: 2016

Urban renewal in Johannesburg is severely compromised by poor urban management in that it hinder coherent and incremental development. The Hillbrow Tower Precinct at the iconic Hilbrow Tower has attracted significant investment necessitating a innovative Area-Based Management Model. The project presents a institutional arrangement that is directly aligned to a spatial plan that integrates the agency of residents of the neighbourhood. A toolkit for ideation was developed to facilitate residents pioneering their own project initiatives.

28/09/2021

Absa Tower Precinct
Year: 2017
Collab: Savage + Dodd

The proposal called for the repurposing of an existing 23 story office building for mixed uses. Compact housing units were integrated into the tower with balconies. The top floor comprising spectacular views of the city was made public together with the second, first and ground floors. The public plaza extended into the ground floor interior and activated by a newly introduced mezzanine level. Public functions serve both inhabitants and the p***c at large - creating a rare public amenity centered around compact private high rise housing.

22/07/2021

Lotti House
Year: 2017

Swipe for full perspective!

Lotti House is a under-performing government-occupied building along the main artery, Cairo Road, in the capital city of Lusaka. In repurposing the building, the project creates a public ground floor with retail and public eating areas organised around an internal market street flanked by creative industries and overlooked by upper level galleries. Government, public, cultural and private functions are carefully curated to work like a shopping centre - optimising line of sight, routes and real-estate. The roof is repurposed for a public social space echoing the recent shed-typologies found in Lusaka and taking advantage of the views.

05/07/2021

Axonometric of Evolution House, 2018.

This multi-storey industrial building has been earmarked for redevelopment by a bold developer seeking to make a unique real estate product centred around urban convenience and new forms of urban mobility. The proposal produces a public retail street level with a supermarket, double volume bookstore and apartments on the upper levels with a penthouse on the roof. The industrial-heritage of the building is maintained with clear additions legible while radically repurposing the building internally.

02/07/2021

UrbanWorks engages in research and teaching through the GSA, University of Johannesburg.

Earlier this year, the tutor team developed the framework for Unit 14: Rogue Roots 2021, in what is called “The Cartography of Pursuits”. The 3-year long design unit investigates the origins, practices and spatial consequences of contemporary and emergent Trade Roots affecting our cities.

Follow for more!

01/07/2021

Drawing of the carcass, Chancellor House, 2009.

Chancellor House was South Africa’s first black-run legal practice, headed by Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo. The practice closed in 1960, and over the years the building became more and more rundown and uninhabitable. UrbanWorks’ conceptual redevelopment of the building in 2009 sought to emphasise the facade, as it held all the symbolic value and was seen as the last remaining infrastructure of value. The facade would thus become the framework/spawning for new forms of life.

28/06/2021

Johannesburg Zoo
Year: 2017
Collab: Mayat Hart Architects

Fragmented ad-hoc planning necessitated Johannesburg Zoo develop a strategic spatial framework upon which to hinge its growth. A framework was developed together with a series of interventions to incrementally realism the intention of the framework. The Savannah landscape is used as a primary spatial device to organize the Zoo experience. This allows a particularity to the Johannesburg Zoo and foregrounds the animals related to this landscape and context. The Savannah landscape allows for ‘exotic’ landscapes and exhibits to be nestled into its routes and a optimum use of land to locate attractions.

25/06/2021

Centre for the Less Good Idea, Season 6
Year: 2019

The Wall of Tools Elevation Study. The Wall of Tools is conceptualised as a vertical extension of the stage. It held projections, objects, props, narratives and performers. It sought to deliberately make ambiguous the stage, performer and props.

25/06/2021

The South African Cities Network
Year: 2020
Collab: Tanya Zack

The aim of this project was to develop a methodology for enabling productive conversations within municipalities around the key governance issues that impede development in that particular city. A stop-frame animation is created to capture the key governance issues as presented in conversations at municipal level. It reveals through stories and visual the nuanced complexities of bringing impactful change to some of our most challenging environments. See the full video on the UrbanWorks Website. In collaboration with the magnificent Dr. Tanya Zack.

21/06/2021

These times necessitate a deep introspection, as to what we hold dear, what we must shed, and what we must strive for. New matter is forged in times of great turmoil. Following a period of deep reflection and consolidation, we have reconstituted our practice and have introduced a new logo to usher in this exciting and bold chapter. The works to follow are born from this reconstituted position. Our new logo will accompany us with the new collaborations and works we generate in the future. UrbanWorks.

03/06/2021

Vilakazi Street Precinct
Year: 2008-10
Collab: Ikemeleng Architects, Calsarel Womans Project

Home to two Nobel Laureates and the epicenter of the infamous 1976 Student Uprising, the Vilakazi Street Precinct project seeks to spatially articulate and acknowledge these significant figures and events through an public environment upgrade. Conceptualised as a “living museum” the project seeks to negotiate the aspirations of locals and tourists alike, integrating sites of rich historical value with the everyday hustle and bustle of the street. Together with the curated implementation of public art, layered neighbourhood narratives are revealed through landscaping, street furniture, signage and surface treatment.

UrbanWorks Architecture and Urbanism

07/10/2021

07/10/2021

28/09/2021

22/07/2021

05/07/2021

02/07/2021

01/07/2021

28/06/2021

25/06/2021

25/06/2021

21/06/2021

03/06/2021

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