Architect Africa Online - South Africa : Profiles : Franc Brugman


African Legends

Project Management & Supervision

The Realm of the Possible in the Heart of Sandton ...

Franc Brugman

Director - Bentel Associates International

Perhaps the South African Renaissance had begun. Historians define the European Renaissance as a time when mankind cast his eyes outward and upward and opened a way to the Realm of the Possible.

There is much evidence of this Realm of the Possible in South Africa these days. We host international sporting and conference events with flamboyance and flair; we are establishing a place for ourselves in the family of nations. South African enterprise is expanding outward, taking with it business and creative talents long held under the proverbial bushes. Bentel Associates International, a leading South African architectural firm believes that the benefits accrued from this kind of growth cannot be overstated. The effects of such interaction flow in both directions ultimately changing the perception South Africans have about themselves and their own abilities.

As Franc Brugman, a director in Bentel Associates International says, 'in a short time, we've taken a massive leap into the international arena. This offers new opportunities for expansion but also enlarges our capabilities. '

Resonant of this new confidence is the new Michelangelo Towers currently under construction in Sandton. For Brugman, as primary architect of the project, this building represents a bold and exciting departure from the usual. The Towers will offer not only a signature address but will appreciably change the Sandton Skyline. Perhaps most exciting of all, it will offer residents a metropolitan lifestyle more typical of places like New York or London. The project, brainchild of Bart Dorrestein of Legacy Holdings, gives South Africa one of the first high-rise city tower blocks of this new era. Almost six years in planning, the Michelangelo Towers will likely be completed late 2004 early 2005.

Classically elegant in appearance, the building marries past to future. For example, the glass dome has antecedents that lie firmly in Renaissance architecture but is decidedly modern.

All the advantages of twenty-first century technology have been integrated into the world-gone-by ambiance of the structure in order to create an enduring presence.
Each element of the project small or large has been carefully considered. Fire-protection, security, emergency evacuation, sanitation, even lift technology have been painstakingly thought through in order to provide residents with the highest level of services possible. Banks of lifts servicing specific areas, each with their own access lobbies and sophisticated zonal security, have been designed so as to streamline access and egress for residents and service personnel.

'Our aim is to make secure access seamless for residents while making it extremely difficult for anyone else to gain non-legitimate access,' says Brugman.

The approximately 150 apartments will range from Gallery units starting at 80 sq m to the Michelangelo Apartments that are about 100 sq m or between six to eight apartments per floor. In addition, there is provision for eight lavish penthouses, crowned by the King Suite at over 300 sq m. The luxurious one or two-bedroom Michelangelo Apartments are open-plan designs that incorporate en suite bathrooms, gourmet kitchens and a high standard of fixtures and fitting. There will also be several three-bedroom configurations. Starting price is in the range of R1.5 million. The apartments will be bought off plan and by sectional title. Lynn Estates is handling client liaison and sales of the properties, a good 80% of which have already been sold.

The eight penthouses will offer discerning owners enchanting 300 sq meter decks both private and public, with plunge pools or Jacuzzis. Entry lobbies will lead to upper and lower level designs that incorporate dressing rooms, butlers quarters and a sense of space commensurate with the overall grandeur of classical buildings.

Secure parking, two levels of exclusive shops, throughways to Sandton Square and all that the heart of this city-in-a-suburb encapsulates come with the package. High above the hectic Sandton streets residents will discover the delight of palm-shaded swimming pools and breathtaking views- inspirational enough for even the least romantic of hearts.

As this suggests, what is being built here is more than a building, it is a lifestyle, an exclusive lifestyle. Apartment layouts offer configurations that allow for a wide range of personal inclinations, tastes and family routines. Some apartments include studies, some are duplex, while others feature fold back windows that allow unrestricted vistas reaching all the way to forever- or at the very least - the Magaliesberg Hills. Because of the open-plan designs,
the views promise to be spectacular from just about any of the rooms and to ensure this bathrooms and kitchens have been positioned closest to the core of the building with living and bedrooms on the outer periphery.

Space and style combined with A-grade finishes and provisions for decorator furnishings promise residents a festival of choices although individual taste beyond the standard is also an option.

An interesting bonus is being offered to apartment owners to purchase the apartments fully furnished and enter a pool. Participants will benefit by being able to rent out their homes under the auspices of the Michelangelo Hotel for those times when they are out of town. This unusual arrangement is perhaps illustrative of how each aspect of this project has been carefully considered by the designers.

A highly skilled team has been put together to facilitate the creation of these individual homes housed within the precincts of this exclusive location. Tony Ritchie of Ritchie Midgley is Structural Engineer, Steve Franklin of SJ Franklin is Wet Services Engineer, electrical is Tony De Oliveira of Claassen Auret, Rufus De Villiers of CP De Leeuw is Quantity Surveyor for the operation and the Mechanical Engineer is Graeme Page pf WSP. Coordination and project management will be Bentel Associates whose work apart from that of principal agent and architect will include coordination of designs that interior designers may require on behalf of individual apartment owners.

Consultants, designers, architects, workers will now come together to build what promises to be a landmark construction, one that should draw eyes upward and outward and perhaps glimpse the beginnings of our own Renaissance. As always, history will be the ultimate judge.

Enquiries: Mr Franc Brugman
Bentel Associates International
Tel: (011) 884 7111

http://www.bap.co.za