There was a time not too long ago when established business started deserting the CBD. In droves.
Some moved to Parktown, shortly afterwards to abandon state-of-the-art buildings for the relative perceived sanctuary of Sandton.
Even new office complexes in town stood unoccupied in the general frenzy to put as much distance between corporate headquarters and the CBD.
Not all moved, though, most noticeably the larger banks and mining houses. They, over time, helped bring in city improvement districts. Not that the city did not attract its share of poverty and homelessness during this period.
AngloGold, now the world’s number two gold company, also found itself homeless during this period following parent Anglo’s decision in 1998 to house its gold interests as a separately listed company, including in New York. This required its own address, removed from 44 Main Street.
AngloGold moved into the diamond-shaped glass building in Diagonal Street. The city at this time was so run down that rentals were available at just R30 a square metre.
AngloGold wanted its own purpose-built building and here the story gets interesting, as herd-behaviour theory would tell you that it would be in Sandtonland.
But AngloGold had a non-negotiable: its new headquarters would be in town, “this side of the railway line”, says AngloGold’s Steve Lenahan. The company wants to continue to be closely associated with the city that gave it its birth. This central location is also most convenient for all its staff.
It did not have to look far, in fact just over the road where the old turbine and boiler halls stood magnificent, if derelict. The developer is Francesco Rivera of the Tiber Group and Guy Steenekamp of TPS is the architect. AngloGold, preferring not to own buildings, has a 15-year lease with Tiber, but has paid close attention to the R300-million development, even bringing in its own project manager from one of its mines.
There are three basement floors of parking for 460 employees and four levels of workspace. The building is low-rise, meaning that it is easy to walk to communicate with colleagues.
AngloGold also had the non-negotiable that the building had to be open plan. The company has paid a lot of attention to creating as ideal an internal workspace as possible.
Work areas are divided by glass but the working space is open and transparent. The internal space is bathed in natural light. There are pause areas for informal meetings or breathers and many rooms for more formal or private meetings. There is a restaurant, a gym, a clinic, a travel agent and a shop.
The company has also sought to maximise the energy efficiency of the building by using, for example, solar power to pre-heat water. It expects to get a rebate of R1,5-million from Eskom in terms of a scheme the utility runs to encourage energy efficiency.
AngloGold occupies the whole of the new building and will take up two floors of the turbine hall, now under construction. The shell has been left untouched. A new interior separate from the shell is being constructed in concrete and glass. The oil boiler hall, which adjoins the new building, is part of a walkway connecting the city with the Newtown precint.
Lenahan says the city’s development agencies have been actively involved in the project. He says that every promise made, including building the Nelson Mandela suspension bridge, two off-ramps from the M1 and the development of social housing at nearby Brickfields, has been kept.
Over time, says Lenahan, Newtown will become the centre of a re-energised Jo’burg.