Alto 234 is currently the highest urban bar in Africa, situated on the rooftop of the Leonardo in Joburg’s Sandton.

Owned by Leonardo Hotels & Suites and managed by Legacy Hotel Management Services, the space aims to bring people together to soak in the city from a bird’s perspective. 

Boasting 360-degree views of  Joburg and beyond, from 234 metres high. The multi-use space was designed by Varoom Interiors with internal and external seating which accommodates  100 people. Inspired by the architectural style of the building, Joburg’s mining history and the surrounding vegetation, the visible roof fins and steel complement the minimalist decor – with the view as the main focus of the space.

Custom-made furniture features in each area and is arranged for both private and public events around three gas fire pits and provides vantage points for the extensive panoramic views.

Some key events open to the public include:

• The High Noon Experience is from 11h00 to 12h30. 
• “After” Noon Experience is from 13h00 to 16h00. 
• The Sunset Experience is from 16h30 to 18:30. 
• The Night Light Experience from 19h00 to 23h00
• Saturday Yoga TBC
• Weekend High Tea TBC

For more information visit alto234.co.za.

Looking for more cool local spaces? Take a look at the new Ethos restaurant.

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Plans for Zanzibar’s Domino Tower has been revealed to potentially be Africa’s second tallest building developed by Dubia-based firm xCassia.

The spiralled 70-storey tower is inspired by domino pieces and will be erected on a man-made island in an archipelago 160 kilometres away from the capital Dars es Salaam (and 15 kilometres from UNESCO’s World Heritage site of Stone Town).

Playing host to Africa’s latest luxury hotel, it will also feature 500 residential units, an observation deck, entertainment section, wedding chapel, a golf course, retail facilities and a spa.

“First sketched in Paris in 2009 after my late father, two sons and I played a round of dominos, I dreamed of building this project for over a decade. Between its innate mathematical order and geometries found in nature, its pure lines and proportions that evoke growth, progress and freedom, it had all the bearings of an icon anyone could remember and draw on a paper napkin. All it lacked was the right visionary investor and site to make it come true,” said founder and design director of xCassia, Jean-Paul Cassia.

The build is said to take four years to complete from commencement.

(h/t) designboom.com.

Looking for more architectural inspiration? Take a look at SAOTA’s La Reserve concept design which has been shortlisted for WAF 2021 Award.

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Oasia Hotel Downtown by WOHA is a tropical, living tower that rises as an anomaly out of Singapore’s dense CBD, inviting nature back into the city and challenging the cold, sleek metallics of the concrete jungle its surrounded by.

According to WOHA, Oasia Hotel Downtown is “a prototype of land-use intensification for the urban tropics”. Landscaping is used extensively as an architectural surface treatment with twenty-one different species of creepers and their colourful flowers covering almost 90% of the red building’s exterior in an impressive mosaic. Achieving an overall Green Plot Ratio of 1,100%, the tower serves to provide food for birds and insects – creating an inner-city oasis and reintroducing biodiversity.

Interiorly, it boasts a series of strata each with its own sky garden. These gardens function as urban scale verandahs, replacing the air-conditioned enclosures typical of the city with breezy openness and natural light.

Sheltered from above by the preceding garden and with open sides for ventilation, the sky gardens also create unique views that trump reliance on external vistas and solve the problem of being closely overlooked by surrounding towers. On the roof, the skyscraper is crowned with a tropical bower alive with a delicate and diverse harmony of flora.

Looking for more green design inspiration? Check out Green Magic Homes – energy-efficient homes that blend into their natural surroundings.

h/t: archdaily.com

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The “Bank of Africa Tower”, set to be completed in 2022, will not only be the tallest building in Morocco, but one of the tallest skyscrapers on the African continent.

The 250-metre high building, designed by architects Rafael de La-hoz and Hakim Benjelloun, will house a luxury hotel, high-end offices and apartments, with a look-out deck planned for the roof.

The building will be constructed by multidisciplinary construction firm BESIX. The design is compliant with HQE and LEED Gold, ensuring the highest international environmental quality standards.

For more information, visit besix.com.

(h/t) designboom.com

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A new landmark is set to mark the Beijing skyline in 2018.

Designed by award-winning architect Dame Zaha Hadid before her death in 2016, construction is underway by Zaha Hadid Architects on the Leeza Soho: a 207-metre tall, 50 level (46 storeys above ground), 172 800m² tower in Beijing’s bustling Lize Financial District.

At the base of the tower is a transit hub that straddles a new subway tunnel, currently under construction too, which divides the site. Perhaps the tower’s most distinguishing feature is the 190-metre tall, twisting atrium – expected to be the world’s tallest – that rises the full height of the building and connects its two halves, which will feature a mix of offices and shops.

For more information on this design, visit zaha-hadid.com.

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British architect Ian Simpson lives in a breathtaking penthouse at the top of a 160m high skyscraper in Manchester, a building which he designed himself.

“As soon as I started designing the building, I started thinking about the opportunity of creating a home for myself here,” he says.

The apartment, which has over 200 seating spaces, a garden and a swimming pool, was designed with natural light and the luxury of space as key features.

This clip is directed by Emile Rafael. Missed his short on Kulapat Yantrasast’s concrete Los Angeles home? Watch it here.

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COMPILED BY Gina Dionisio

Ranked in order from tallest first, these 10 buildings have changed the landscape of their cities.

Burj Khalifa

Height: 829.8m / 2 723ft

Where: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

What: Office, Apartments, Hotel

Completion Date: 2010

Merdeka 118

Height: 679 m / 2,227 ft

Where: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

What: Hotel, Serviced Apartments, Office

Completion Date: 2023

Shanghai Tower

Height: 632 m / 2,073 ft

Where: Shanghai, China

What: Hotel, Office

Completion Date: 2015

Makkah Royal Clock Tower

Height: 601 m / 1,972 ft

Where: Mecca, Saudi Arabia

What: Serviced Apartments, Hotel, Retail

Completion Date: 2012

Ping An Finance Center

Height: 599 m / 1,965 ft

Where: Shenzhen, China

What: Office

Completion Date: 2017

Lotte World Tower

Height: 555 m / 1,819 ft

Where: Seoul, Korea

What: Hotel, Residential, Office, Retail

Completion Date: 2017

One World Trade Center

Height: 541 m / 1,776 ft

Where: New York City, USA

What: Office

Completion Date: 2014

Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre

Height: 530 m / 1,739 ft

Where: Guangzhou, China

What: Hotel, Residential, Office

Completion Date: 2016

Tianjin CTF Finance Centre

Height: 530 m / 1,739 ft

Where: Tianjin, China

What: Hotel, Serviced Apartments, Office

Completion Date: 2019

CITIC Tower

Height: 528 m / 1,731 ft

Where: Beijing, China

What: Office

Completion Date: 2018

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The post Tallest Skyscrapers: 10 Buildings Redefining Cities Around the World appeared first on Visi.

Naspers’ 100^th birthday is celebrated in conjunction with the unveiling of their new Media24 head office revamp.

The Media24 Centre on Cape Town’s foreshore has been redesigned to feature a striking new façade that incorporates both modernist and playful elements.

This includes a 15-storey high custom-made installation (made from HulaBond aluminium panelling fitted onto a steelwork structure) that is an engineering first for South Africa. The installation, a modern take on a tree’s roots, is symbolic of the company’s historic roots in the Mother City.

A 16m wide and 14m high screen, similar to those seen in New York City, covers the bottom west side of the structure. This screen is also the largest (and the greenest) in the country.

In the CBD? Check it out for yourself at 40 Heerengracht Street, Cape Town.

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Drawing from contemporary popular culture, Australian architecture firm Elenberg Fraser is using imagery from Beyoncé’s Ghost music video as inspiration for their latest Melbourne skyscraper.

The 226-metre high, 68-storey Premier Tower will be located at 134 Spencer Street and will house 660 apartments, as well as a 160-room hotel.

It consists of a series of curves influenced by the contemporary dance seen in the video. “The complex form – a vertical cantilever – is actually the most effective way to redistribute the building’s mass, giving the best results in terms of structural dispersion, frequency oscillation and wind requirements, ” explains the firm on their website. “Art and science? You betcha. For those more on the art than science side, we will reveal that the form does pay homage to something more aesthetic – we’re going to trust you’ve seen the music video for Beyoncé’s Ghost.”

Haven’t seen it? Watch it below.

For more information, visit elenbergfraser.com.

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