The extension effectively doubles the capacity of the University of Pretoria’s Johannesburg business school and will include two levels of underground parking, two new state-of-the-art lecture theatres, a new information centre and a wi-fi café on the ground floor, with administration and academic offices overlooking a central area on the first floor. The total area of the new building will be 17 385.5m².

Commenting on the design of the new building, architect Henri Comrie of Comrie Wilkinson Architects and Urban Designers, said that Phase II of the GIBS building reinforces the logic of the first phase. “It is an important building block in strengthening the main ‘university quad’ along its northern boundary and making the established central courtyard of the campus a more complete and defined space.

“We have deviated from the idea of a series of open-to-sky courtyards that anchor the spaces as found in the existing main building. The transverse axis of the large lawned court is extended northwards and penetrates into the new building, where this extended axis becomes an internal ‘street’ – a high and wide roofed passage. The ‘street’ will be a dramatic triple volume space with light filtering in through carefully positioned slits in the roof above. It is a clearly legible ordering device to replace the previous concept of open courtyards.

“All new work has been designed within the culture of consistent attention to detail established by Prof Nick Binedell, director of GIBS, at the outset of Phase I some eight years ago,” said Comrie.

A significant part of the expansion includes modification to the existing building. With many of the offices and the information centre moving to the new building, floor space will be released for three more lecture rooms, while the existing restaurant will be upgraded to cater for new demand, and more enclosed seating spaces will be provided on the flanks of the existing lawned court.

The project is being funded by the University of Pretoria and the Donald Gordon Foundation.

Professional team:

Project manager
SIP Project Managers: Gerald Judelman and Werner van Buuren

Town planner
VBGD Town Planners: Lloyd Druce

Architect
Comrie Wilkinson Architects and Urban Designers: Henri Comrie and Chris Wilkinson

Mechanical engineer
Africon: Karst Bakker and Modise Sebekedi

Quantity surveyor
Del Quantity Surveyors: Corne de Leeuw and Nico Roos

Structural engineer
LC Consulting: Craig Leon and John Truter

Electrical engineer
Mpumelelo Engineers: Tony de Oliveira

Main contractor
Giuricich Brothers