PWC TOWER

WATERFALL CITY, MIDRAND

The new head office of PwC at Waterfall City, Midrand, which is an iconic 26 storey building and the first high-rise within the booming Waterfall precinct.

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The landscape relates to both the ground floor and the first floor plates of the building and is designed to integrate with the adjoining Waterfall City Park landscape.

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Ground floor Landscape:

A landscaped traffic circle provides access to the basement parking, as well as the park boulevard and the VIP area. The streetscape design of the circle consists of the following: an outer edge defined by trees and bollards, separating the pedestrian movement from the vehicular movement, a trafficable surface of paving and cobble detail and an inner ring of dense soft landscape

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The western quadrant of the “point of arrival” is framed by a terraced landscape consisting of 3 levels of terrace walls and accent planting. The terraced landscape accommodates the level difference between the point of arrival and the entrance plaza.

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In front of the tower entrance, a plaza provides for a pedestrianized drop-off and go area that announces the building in a celebrative way. Detailed paving and soft landscape forms the core of the plaza.

Vehicular access to the staff parking is through a landscape boulevard from the point of arrival in a southerly direction, sloping down into the basement parking. The access road is framed by a dense tree avenue and groundcover planting.

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Access to the park is through the park boulevard - a multi-functional boulevard that provides for pedestrian, cyclist and service vehicles in a densely shaded landscape environment.

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The visitors parking and the entrance plaza is also accessed from the park boulevard.

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Access to the ground floor visitors parking is framed by “hanging gardens” consisting of various levels of terraced planters stepping up from the ground floor level to the upper first floor level. Dense planting and creeping vegetation will create the notion of large landscaped steps.

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The southern wing of the ground floor lobby opens up to a pause area that provides for outdoor seating and entertainment. The seating area is defined by a pergola structure, terraced screen planting and paving.

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First floor landscape:

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The tower podium landscape along the park edge is a semi–public landscape that interacts with the park boulevard. The threshold between the park and the podium landscape is defined through a grand sloping staircase that provides comfortable access and ample seating. Concentric bands of paving and lawn creates a visually appealing and usable landscape on the podium level.

On-grade pedestrian access from the tower to the park and the adjacent mall is provided along the north façade of the building. The pedestrian space in front of the first floor access bridge links directly into the park boulevard. The space is framed with seating, soft landscape and a multi-functional lawn area.