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Waterfall – Attacq has welcomed Schneider Electric South Africa, Wisetech Global and Trans Africa Projects to their new offices in Waterfall City.
The design of the Allandale building and office interiors set a new contemporary standard for workspaces in Gauteng’s rapidly growing new city, Attacq CEO Morné Wilken said on Tuesday.
The Allandale building comprises three basement levels of parking and four office levels above ground. The design makes use of landscaped berms and grand staircases to take up the substantial slope across the site. The result is that the building starts to merge with (and emerge from) its site, according to architect Luke Chandler of the Aevitas Group.
“Waterfall City is developed as a live, work and play urban space where people can enjoy a balanced lifestyle in a pleasant urban development setting that takes both people’s needs and that of the environment into account. This philosophy reached beyond pure environmentally sensitive construction but is embedded in the total holistic urban design,” said Wilken.
With approximately 15 000m² of lettable area, the Allandale building houses Schneider Electric South Africa along its Northern wing, Trans Africa Projects along its Southern wing and Wisetech Global on the top floor. The Northern and Southern wings are connected by a grand, fully enclosed, quadruple-volume atrium which serves as one of the main features of the building.
“Affectionately named the Rainbow Hive, our new headquarter is the latest addition to Schneider Electric’s “Cool Sites” programme which focuses on designing workplaces that are attractive, inspiring and energising for employees, enabling better employee collaboration and engagement, while improving productivity and motivation and thereby increasing employee satisfaction levels. For us, a happy employee translates into a happy customer and this starts with creating a work environment that is conducive to this,” said Eric Leger, country president of Schneider Electric South Africa.
Reflecting on the need for companies to be part of the energy solution, Leger said as good corporate citizens, "we are delighted that with our move to the Rainbow Hive, Schneider Electric has chosen to be part of the energy solution by generating 80% of our power through solar and intelligent building management systems. Because every bit counts, we believe that these efforts of reducing power demand from the national grid contribute to sustainable and consistent power supply for the rest of South Africans".
In Wilken's view, Waterfall is a catalyst for regional growth.
"We are very positive about the way ahead. Following the catalytic momentum created by the opening of the Mall of Africa, Waterfall City is rapidly becoming the favoured destination for beneficial corporate consolidation. Based on studies by Urban Studies, the projected growth in office space is expected to be almost 30% per annum until 2020,” said Wilken.
“Tighter economic realities call for corporate consolidation. Companies can reap real significant benefit from consolidation to Waterfall City, through reduction of rented space, use of green technologies, culture gains and having a more efficient workforce all located centrally in the province.”
