High- Rise In The Veld

Office tower development seen heralding new Gauteng CBD.

- Anine Kilian

Motorists on the N1 have had a front-row seat as accounting firm PwC’s 28-storey office building rose from the veld at the Waterfall City development, in Gauteng. Launching in February 2018, the high-rise building is potentially spearheading a new central business district (CBD) between Johannesburg and Pretoria, competing with the fast-developing commercial nodes of Rosebank and Sandton to the south.

Located between Midrand and Woodmead, off the Alandale interchange on the N1 highway, the R1.5-billion skyscraper comprising 40 000 m2 of offices is designed to house about 3 500 PwC employees in an efficient and modern workplace.

“We are excited about the potential of the Mall of Africa and office park development, given its proximity as a midpoint in Gauteng, and coupled with the opportunity to consolidate our offices in Johannesburg and Pretoria,” PwC COO Fulvio Tonelli says.

He adds that the company will, however,continue to retain a presence in Pretoria.

The tower will be the tallest structure in the corridor between the Sandton CBD and the Pretoria CBD and is visible from almost anywhere within a 30 km radius.

“It is set to become a structure of iconic proportions, owing to its distinctive twisted form designed by LYT Architecture for Attacq Waterfall Investment Company and its developer, Atterbury, which was realised through close collaboration with design engineering firm Arup,” says Attacq CEO Morné Wilken.

He adds that the tower is being developed in a location overlooking the rapidly expanding Waterfall City, which is also home to the 131 000 m2 Mall of Africa super regional shopping centre.

The PwC development marks the consolidation of various of its Gauteng offices into centrally located headquarters.