The massive 131 000 m² Mall of Africa is currently the largest retail development being built in a single phase in Africa.

The expansive retail offering features a distinctive design and an ideal location in the middle of the 1.73 million square metre mixed-use Waterfall City development in Midrand, Gauteng.

Drawing inspiration from Africa

The design inspiration for the mall and courts is drawn from the natural and geological beauty of the African continent.

There will be four courts that depict the different climatic zones on the continent: an oleum court depicting the oil rich West Africa, a great lakes court depicting East Africa, a crystal court depicting the mineral wealth in South Africa and a sand court depicting the desert area of North Africa.

“The mall’s design also incorporates many unique elements, including very high shop fronts, wide passages and an undulating roof feature in the centre with specialist animated LED lighting and a large public space with restaurants known as the Town Square,” says architect Tia Kanakakis of MDS Architects, the architectural firm for the Mall of Africa.

“The gross leasable area will be 131 000 m² and 261 tenants will be setting up shop in this new luxury development,” he adds.

A rewarding project

Leading South African property developer and investor, Atterbury, appointed Aurecon as civil and structural engineers for the iconic development.

Gerhard Saayman, Professional Engineer at Aurecon, responsible for managing Aurecon’s design and construction supervision teams on the project, says that the sheer size of the mall is making the Mall of Africa an exceptionally rewarding project to work on.

“The gross building area is 485 000 m², which equals 65 rugby pitches. The size of the mall that will be occupied by major tenants such as Edgars, Woolworths, Truworths, Checkers, Ster Kinekor and Game will equal the size of the entire Middelburg Mall,” says Saayman.

The completion of the concrete structure and steel work for the roofs, as well as the façades, is the project’s next major milestone and is currently on target for completion on programme.

Teamwork makes the dream work

The main construction period for this massive development is only 32 months. This is not only a huge challenge for the main contractor, but requires a massive amount of design and construction documentation to be produced within a very short period of time by the design consultants.

Six of Aurecon’s design offices and over 50 engineers, technicians and draughters are currently working on this project to ensure designs and quality construction documentation were delivered according to programme.

“Meticulous planning, innovative design solutions and ongoing collaboration between all stakeholders has enabled us to keep meeting deadlines and resolving challenges to reach the key milestones of the programme.

“Teamwork between the design professionals and the contractors were central to not only meet each deadline, but also to design cost consciously at all times and fast track the various stages of construction,” says Saayman.

Dedicated involvement from Aurecon’s four site engineers with the Joint Venture of WBHO and Group 5 ensures construction queries and problems are identified and resolved immediately.

“This relationship between our engineers and the contractor is immensely important and essential to a successful construction phase,”concludes Saayman.