MULTI -LAYERED, MIXED NEIGHBOURHOODS IN
NEWTOWN, JOHANNESBURG
Mapping of Newtown
Available at http://www.newtown.co.za/heritage/tour
The Unit's Combined UDF
My group's UDF
My Design Intervention
The idea behind my intervention in Newtown was to upgrade the existing transport infrastructure and introduce a new mixed-use building that would potentially bring an influx of people to the cultural precinct.
I have proposed a renovation of an existing dilapidated building as the building is currently just a form in the landscape of Newtown. I have proposed the use of the building to serve predominantly as a bus stop waiting area for the local and tourist sight seeing buses. On the ground floor, the building will serve as a waiting area for the specific buses. On the first floor will be a curio shop for the tourists to browse while they are waiting and there will be a roof top terrace that will have a cafe' and bar area that will serve as a space for people who have longer waiting times for the next bus.
I am also proposing a mixed use building with retail on the ground floor and residential, for the owners of the retail shops and the students in the area, on the first and second floors. There is an open square attached to the building which will be used for formalized markets on Saturdays, small concerts from Bassline music artists as well as crafts and other retail businesses set up in shipping containers. The shipping containers will serve as permanent studio spaces for craftsman and further retail functions.
