Building An Icon: Transvaal Provincial Administration Building

WORDS Johan Swart PHOTOS Alain Proust (Murals), Jean-Paul Corten (Church Square), Johan Swart (Discovery, Floor Plan), Google Earth, Alain Proust (Old Pretoria Chambers, Courtyard, Discovery, Building Detail), Johan Swart (Facades), Jean-Paul Corten (Building Detail, Facades) 

In the latest in our series celebrating classic South African buildings, architect Johan Swart takes us on a deep-dive into one of Tshwane’s most majestic Modernist jewels – the art-filled Transvaal Provincial Administration Building.

The basics

The Transvaal Provincial Administration (TPA) building, now Public Works House, is one of Tshwane’s most significant yet publicly unappreciated works of architecture. Inaugurated in 1963, the project was a highlight of state-sponsored Modernism – a prestigious and politically motivated development of immense scale and technological complexity, intended to portray the apartheid state as a progressive government. It also introduced an era of high-rise construction to the city. Mostly vacant since the mid-1990s, the TPA building towers over the southwestern part of Church Square, hiding within it a variety of architectural surprises – and a remarkable collection of artworks by some of the greatest white South African artists of the time.

Not many people know that…

In an interesting twist of history, remnants of an even earlier era can be found in the Old Pretoria Chambers on the 11th floor of the TPA building. These rooms borrowed from Hollard House in Jacob Maré (now Jeff Masemola) Street, built in the late 19th century to the design of architect Wim de Zwaan. Before its demolition in the 1950s, the interior features of Hollard House were salvaged and installed in the new TPA building. Beautiful panelling and timber ceiling scrolls define the spaces, and leaded glass windows depict ZAR-era political figures, such as President Paul Kruger and State Secretary Willem Leyds.

READ MORE: Building an Icon: Park Station

But perhaps the most remarkable interior features in the TPA building are the large works of art, commissioned for specific spaces and installed ahead of the inauguration.

Some have since been removed, such as a mural by Alexis Preller, a tapestry by Bettie Cilliers-Barnard and a painting by WH Coetzer. Others are still locked away within the empty complex; they include mosaics by Armando Baldinelli, Cecily Sash and Ernst de Jong, sculptures by Coert Steynberg and Moses Kottler as well as the impressive Transvaal Sanctuary mural by Walter Battiss. Alexis Preller’s masterpiece, entitled Discovery, originally stretched along the full width of an office wing within the eighth-floor conference room.

This highly significant mural was recently rescued and transferred to the University of Pretoria (UP), where it was shown at the new Javett Art Centre, restored by specialist conservators and then permanently installed in the Old Merensky Library under the curatorship of UP Museums.

At its zenith

The Transvaal was one of South Africa’s four provinces during the pre-democratic era from 1910 to 1994, and its administration was based in Tshwane. The old Government Building (Raadzaal) on Church Square, a neighbour of the TPA building, served as the provincial headquarters during the early Transvaal years, with various departments distributed around the city. The TPA building brought all the provincial departments together in a single complex, the largest office building in the country at the time. Developments of this type transformed Tshwane during the 1960s and ’70s, as municipal and government departments moved into new office towers.

READ MORE: Building an Icon: Disa Park

Buildings of this scale required planning. Almost two- thirds of the properties on the city block located southwest of Church Square had to be purchased or expropriated to make way for the TPA building. Those that remained include the Capitol Theatre, Poyntons Trust building, Old Netherlands Bank, Old Law Chambers and Café Riche.

A steering committee was appointed in 1953, identifying two architectural firms to lead the design process: Meiring & Naudé, and Moerdyk & Watson. AL Meiring was head of the Pretoria School of Architecture at the time, and in close contact with many leading architects who, between them, had designed some of the finest Modernist buildings in the country. The TPA building continued this tradition, taking inspiration from earlier Tshwane-based designs such as Norman Eaton’s unrealised Ministry of Transport building, or the Meat Board building by Hellmut Stauch.

The state of play today

While Tshwane remained the seat of government after South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, Johannesburg replaced it as the capital of the new Gauteng province. The TPA building was partially vacated during this process, and has stood empty in recent years. The quality of the building remains exceptional, and the sheer amount of floor space that has been underutilised over the last two decades can only be seen as wasteful. A building of this complexity might be difficult to repurpose (there have been failed plans to do so), but it remains an architectural heritage asset that, with its role and place in South Africa’s brutal apartheid history acknowledged, could be used again in public service.

Why the building maters

The TPA building illustrates Modernist principles adapted to the South African context and applied at an urban scale. Four large office wings are placed along an east-west axis, separated by courtyards, and designed with integrated screens that allow for natural light and ventilation – a sensible strategy in Tshwane’s climate. At 13 storeys, it was once the tallest building in Tshwane, with architectural details that were finely crafted for its scale. The courtyards, lobbies and meeting rooms are impressive, and the strict modular grid binds the structural concrete frame, interior partitioning and facade into a harmonious design.

READ MORE: Building an Icon: The Carlton Centre

The structure is also testimony to the complex socio-political history of our capital city. The Transvaal coat of arms and commemorative panels in the entrance foyer still reflect the political context at the time of construction, originally complemented with the busts of apartheid-era prime ministers and other politically symbolic sculptures. Given the immense creativity shown by new generations of local designers, the TPA building should be transformed and remodelled to reflect our developing democracy.

We love it because

The TPA building was built to the highest standards and specifications, and filled with a decorative programme executed by the leading artists and artisans of the time. The quality of the materials and the extent of the detailing can still be seen in the bronze-clad columns, concrete projections, marble profiling, patterned brickwork and custom aluminium screens.

Resonant with current thoughts on sustainability, the architecture is also a study in climate-responsive design, with finely detailed facades responding to their solar orientation. The north-facing glazing is covered with a bespoke and adaptable solar screen; the southern facade allows indirect light to enter the interior; and the east- and west-facing portions shield against the sun as bookends of clad stone panels or brick screens of alternating textures.

The TPA building embodies a significant moment on the architectural timeline of Tshwane. It stands as a radical successor to the Neo-classical administration buildings around Church Square, and foreshadows the high-rise towers that followed much later in the 20th century.

Read more stories in our Building an Icon series. Don’t forget to sign up to our weekly newsletter for the latest architecture and design news.