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Randridge Mall has been servicing the community for the last 27 years. Built in 1983 the center quickly became popular 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 exponentially. It was therefore essential that Randridge Mall undergo an expansion and a facelift.
Citation preview
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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