We speak to Paolo Viotti from Vivid Architects about Bridgewater, Century City‘s latest mixed-use development along the banks of Ratanga Park.
[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]“It is very exciting to see the conceptual thinking behind the Bridgewater development coming to reality.” says Paulo Viotti, Partner at Vivid Architects. “We knew that it would be a great development, but even we were blown away by the feeling you get when you stand next to the water or in the courtyard.”
The building acts as an interface and transition between the urban neighbourhood of Century City Square, and the extraordinary natural environment of the newly re-imagined Ratanga Precinct, which includes Ratanga Park, a rehabilitated waterbody.
Viotti continues “Bridgewater was designed to allow seamless connectivity and pedestrian access in, around and through the development. The “city block” development was intentionally designed as a number of individual buildings with their own unique language and “personality”, all linked and unified around an internal courtyard.”
Bridgewater Courtyard acts as a filter for pedestrian movement, linking the many buildings of the overall Bridgeways Precinct to Ratanga Park and waterfront. The mixed-use nature of this development, which includes a hotel, retail, apartments, and offices, will ensure all day activity and life beyond the 9 to 5 working day.
Viotti explains that there are three predominant buildings or typologies that make up the Bridgewater development. “They each play their own very important unique role in design, use, scale, and materiality to address their particular position on the site. For the residential component of apartments and hotel accommodation, we took clues from the timeless and recognisable design ethos of the Amsterdam canal edge row house architecture. These front onto the wharf, that defines the water facing elevation of the development. We interpreted this in a stripped down and contemporary manner, with elegant thin façades. We further combined natural and painted face brick to ensure colour variation and elevational interest.”
“As one approaches Sable circle, we wanted to create a building that literally swept you around it with its sleek flowing flush glazed façade with a great corporate identity and views back to Table Mountain. To offset this, we created a third building typology of Wharf style warehouse buildings that accommodates small office studios. These front onto Conference Lane and form the focal corner entrance to the hotel porte cochere drop off.”
“As Bridgewater nears completion, we are so excited to see the sculptural quality of the varying scales of buildings and public spaces that has resulted between their placements. It is a development that offers the user and the public a warm human scale environment to work, stay, play or just simply relax and chill.”
