SPECIAL REPORTRANDRIDGE MALL

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RANDRIDGE MALL: FACE LIFT FOR COMMUNITY SHOPPING CENTRE

By Stacey Rowan

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Randridge Mall has been servicing the

community for the last 27 years. Built in

1983 the center quickly became popu-

lar with the public as it fulfilled the a-z

in shopping needs of the community by

providing the perfect tenant mix, easy

access and also loads of parking. As the

neighborhood expanded, the amount

of shoppers and their needs grew expo-

nentially. It was therefore essential

that Randridge Mall undergo an expan-

sion and a facelift.

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Emira property fund, owners of Randridge Mall,

situated on the corner of John Vorster and Kay-

burne Avenue – Randpark Ridge, invested R126 mil-

lion in this refurbishment project and with the help

of Frans Farmer (architects) and Eris Property Man-

agement the project was completed in September

this year. “The client’s brief encompassed taking

the old tired centre and renewing it to bring it up to

the standards of today’s trends and norms of shop-

ping centres,” says Frans Farmer, principle architect

on the project, Frans Farmer Architects.

Jannie Smith with Frans Joubert and his team from

C-Pro arrived on site on in August 2009 and started

breaking down walls, chipping out tiles and digging

up the parking lot.

“With the regards to the construction of the new

extension, we used standard concrete, brick and

mortar. We used a steel frame structure with brick

and pre-cast panels, together with concrete col-

umns. On the exterior walls we used smooth and

scratch plaster, paired with a low sheen exterior

paint.,” says Farmer.

The exterior shop fronts were heightened to allow

for increased light flow into the shops and for larg-

er display areas, and an 8.5 penetration proof glass

was put in place for the exterior shop fronts. Apart

from making the stores more secure in terms of the

penetration proof glass, the shop fronts were also

aligned. On the main entrances, a strong use of

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around the mall, introducing CCTV cameras for se-

curity and building after-hours lockable via roller

stutters on all the entrances, increasing security

measures. All the lighting we changed to energy

savers and installed sensors and timers which now

control all the lights in the parking areas.”

Not forgetting the complete new look for the inte-

rior of the centre, the architects took to the task of

updating the appearance of the mall, and now

shoppers, once inside the new Randridge Mall, are

greeted by renewed aesthetics for a revived shop-

ping experience.

“The revival of the layout of the mall involved clean-

ing out and redesigning the old part of the mall,

together with designing the new extension from

scratch. The heavy use of straight clear lines used

for the design creates a flow, a continuation,

throughout the mall. The interior now features high

shine finishes, polished porcelain tiles and stainless

glass was used to act as receptors of light, increas-

ing the amount of illumination into the centre.

When describing the main front entrances, Farmers

continues: “… the entrance has a specific design

and style – a modern, vernacular style. It is modern

because of its straight lines, square blocks and

strong use of glass and it is vernacular because the

new style adjoins to the contemporary style of the

old building. We also built an additional mall en-

trance in front of Dischem.”

Considering other aspects of the facelift, and ex-

tension, Farmer says: “The face lift entailed intro-

ducing a parking deck with paid parking, complet-

ing the fencing (which was incomplete at first)

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steel trims, creating a contemporary and stylish

feel within the mall. This is also complimented by

the neutral and soft colour palette that was used

on the interior walls. Stainless steel plant holders

and dustbins were used to give the mall character

and bright directional signage has been placed

throughout the mall to help shoppers move and

navigate easily through it,” explains Farmer.

The revival also includes a number of Randridge

Mall’s current stores moving to different locations;

many new stores and expansions of some of our

Nationals tenants within the centre.

New Stores include: Pizza Perfect, Burger Perfect,

Sharugh Persian Carpets, Absa Atm, Nedbank Atm,

3@1 Postal Services, Spoil Yourself (Soap shop), SA

Post Office, Sheet Street, Foschini, Markham, @

Home, Crystal Direct, American Swiss, Total Sports,

Donna Claire, Rage Shoes, Kingsmead Shoes, N.

Haque Curtaining and Fabrics, Kidz (Kiddies cloth-

ing store), Khoki (Stationery), The Pool & Hardware

Team , Petit Fours, Bright Rock, Beas Beautiful and

Lotus Home Collection. “By adding new shops, it

creates capital and therefore makes this project, as

a whole, viable,” says Farmer.

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Stores that have expanded include: Dischem, Wool-

worths, Truworths, FNB and Mr Price. Stores that

have relocated within the mall include: Pep Store

moved to Entrance 4; Cleaning Brother moved to

Entrance 4; Family Pets, moved to Pick ‘n Pay en-

trance; Fine art and Frames moved to Pick ‘n Pay

entrance; Crazy Store moved to Entrance 3; Exclu-

sive Ties moved to Entrance 3; Mr Price moved to

the old CNA; Hearing Centre moving opposite Dis-

chem and Standard Bank ATM’s moved opposite

Dischem. CNA and Jet moved out of the mall. With

the introduction of new stores, Randridge mall now

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offers a more diverse selection of stores, catering

for a broader range of shopping and services re-

quirements.

Every development is bound to have its challenges

and Randridge Mall was no exception to this, al-

though the minor challenges were overcome suc-

cessfully. “As the construction continued whilst the

mall remained ‘live’, this was challenging. Another

challenge with this project was the fact that we lost

parking space by building the extension in the front

of the mall. The solution to this involved building

the parking on top of the centre which now ac-

counts for roof top parking.”

With all the changes that Randridge Mall has under-

gone, it still remains the local’s all-on-one family

community centre, but now with more stores to

choose from and an even easier and more conveni-

ent shopping destination. Melissa Bower, Market-

ing Manager of the Centre, states that this recipe is

“flop proof”. “Randridge Mall is one of the many

refurbishments that we have done that came out

the best,” concludes Farmer. <

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