MPUMALANGA GOVERNMENT COMPLEX - INTERIORS
Culturally appropriate interiors enhance identity within the context of a newly constituted democratic government complex.
PROJECT DATE
2001
CITY
NELSPRUIT/MBOMBELA
COUNTRY
SOUTH AFRICA
SIZE
90 000 meters
CLIENT
PUBLIC WORKS
COLLABORATORS
TAYOB SCHNEPEL ASSOCIATION
INTERIOR COLLABORATORS
DESIGN EFFECTS
AWARDS
South African Institute of Architects, President Award South African Institute of Architects Merit Shortlisted for the SAPOA Award for Innovative Excellence in Property Development Mpumalanga Institute of Architects Merit Award Shortlisted for a World Architecture Award
The culturally diverse demographic of Mpumalanga province is represented in the interiors of the Legislature & Administration buildings. Extending from wall and floor finishes through fixtures and fittings and furniture. Co-Arc’s concept provides a combination of restraint and exuberance. The people of the province are celebrated in the form and brush of the public areas of the complex with tapestries, timber motifs, wall carving and mosaics.
A complex palette of colour natural and artefacts provide a unique identity for each of the buildings within the complex. Each providing opportunity for association. The use of texture & light to define places for particular action gives independent identity to each room or circulation space.
The cultural association of its peoples with the African landscape also inspired conceptual themes of finishing elements, which could roughly be termed earth, reed and grass. Earth elements such as the clay bricks and stonewalls; Reed elements such as battened timber panelling and balcony structures and balustrades; and grass elements manifested in various ways, such as meshes, draped ceilings and the iconic the basket-weave geometry of the inside of the dome; all allude to a building that aims to be contextually South African, sustainable and a marker for investment in a newly democratic South Africa.
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