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Urban brew : At the heart of the building is the Barista coffee bar, a custom-designed industrial workstation. -
Urban brew : The tasting laboratory is reminiscent of a dentist's room. -
Urban brew : Dale Mazon - coffee connoisseur and co-owner of TriBeCa. -
Urban brew : On the veranda, framed views are created towards the southeast of Pretoria. -
Urban brew : The sheet clodding used here lends itself to bending around corners. -
Urban brew : The steel staircase seems to glide up to the second floor. Frameless glass made dividing walls disappear to create a sense of openness. -
Urban brew : The steep slope is evident as the building floats over the landscape. -
Urban brew : The concrete and glass entrance. -
Urban brew : The new logo by designer Peet Pienaar makes for an emblematic accent.
PHOTOS: Dook | PRODUCTION: Annemarie Meintjes and Klara van Wyngaarden | WORDS: Alma Viviers
The TriBeCa Coffee Company’s new roastery in the Highway Business Park along Centurion’s Old Johannesburg Road is a case study in synergy between client and architect.
In the sea of undifferentiated face-brick corrugated-iron-clad warehouses and factories that create Centurion’s endless business parks, a black factory on a red brick plinth makes an arresting impression.
Topped with a golden buck that rears defiantly into the sky, the building makes a striking and unusual new home for the TriBeCa Coffee Company.
TriBeCa started out as a small hole-in-the-wall coffee shop in the Pretoria CBD back in 1996. Phenomenal growth, which has seen the company become the official coffee supplier for Woolworths, led to its purchase of this site in 2006 with the aim of building a new head office and roastery to accommodate all operations.
Aesthetic functionality
Co-owners Dale Mazon and Martin Fitzgerald had a clear idea of what they wanted from the building both aesthetically and functionally, as well as what they were looking for in an architect:
“We wanted someone schooled in the Modernist era,” says Martin. “I particularly like the work of Gawie Fagan, as well as that of the late Revel Fox and Gideon Lichtenburg, all of whom practised architecture in a different way to contemporary architects.”
Dale explains that, aesthetically, they wanted a sleek, modern look for the factory that retained the romance of TriBeCa’s status as coffee merchants. In architect Henk Bakker, Dale and Martin found a meeting of the minds.
“Martin and Dale demanded only the best from both the building and me,” Henk recalls. “Initially I was sceptical about the irregularly shaped site and steep slope. I even suggested they find another one but, after a second look, the ideas started taking shape.”
Henk rejected a stylistic response, explaining that the design process is often not one of intent or a momentary spark of inspiration but rather a subtle, responsive process. Henk, quite literally, pushed the boundaries by having the building line restrictions relaxed in order to maximize site coverage.
He at first envisioned a building that would follow the unusual shape of the site. However this resulted in several sharp angles, which Henk chose to chamfer… with unexpected results.
Interestingly, the shape of a coffee bean began to emerge on plan. “I believe that a good design often flows out of the specific design problem’s limitations: the site, its environment and the brief itself,” explains Henk. “The process is often traumatic, which makes me think of Michelangelo’s ‘agony’. Finding a solution like this can be seen as the ‘ecstasy’, which is also experienced when the building takes form.”
A connected space
The plan was further dictated by the functional requirements of the roastery plant and the office space. Henk firmly believes in Modernist architect Mies van der Rohe’s adage of Form follows Function. He also feels that every building has an aesthetic function – a duty to create an inspiring and gratifying spatial experience.
The resulting building invites the visitor in through a green glass entrance – a soft wound in the dark armour of the exterior. Inside, a glass corridor cuts through to reveal the tasting laboratory, boardroom and barista bar on either side. A leisurely steel staircase ascends to the second floor of offices where one is aware of the roasting plant beyond, creating a strong sense of connectedness.
Both client and architect are adamant that the success of this project is due to the responsive and collaborative nature of the design and building process. This is an honest structure that celebrates its function, the site and context, giving joy not only to users and visitors but also to those who fleetingly pass by on the Old Johannesburg Road.
• TriBeCa Coffee Company, 18 Parkview Drive, Highway Business Park, Old Johannesburg Road, Centurion, 012 661 9303, martin@tribeca.co.za
• Henk Bakker Architect and Town Planner: 012 362 3333, henkbakker@iburst.co.za
