RE-IMAGINING THE PLANETARIUM AS THE WITS ANGLO- AMERICAN DIGITAL DOME
Kate Otten Architects
Braamfontein, Johannesburg
The copper-domed Wits Planetarium with its slender columned portico is a recognisable and well-known landmark on Yale Road on the East Campus of the University of the Witwatersrand. The Planetarium was completed in 1960 and was notable for its extraordinary Zeiss planetarium projector.
For over 60 years, the Planetarium, the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, has had a significant impact on the University and the broader community, with many thousands of visitors having experienced the projected celestial wonders. A high-profile Centenary project for Wits was to transform the Planetarium, into a fully interactive digital system.
The newly named Wits Anglo American Digital Dome project aims to create a visualization laboratory within this iconic landmark. This will broaden its role well beyond astronomy, re-imagine its potential on a 21st Century campus, and enable unparalleled community engagement. The vision was to transform the Planetarium into a cutting-edge digital facility, while building on its proud history as a unique science engagement venue. Modernizing the Planetarium to a full-dome, real-time, interactive digital system to broaden this offering beyond astronomy, and re-imagine its important role.
Kate Otten Architects (KOA) were appointed by the University of the Witwatersrand in 2021 as the architects for the adaptive re-use of the Planetarium. Noting the heritage importance and sensitivity of this building KOA appointed William Martinson as their specialist Heritage architect.
BACK TO THE START
Dook for Visi
W design architecture studio
Waterkloof, Pretoria
The project involves the renovation of House Carpenter-Kling, a 1970s home designed by Alan Konya, located in Waterkloof, a prestigious Pretoria suburb. Although the house is not classified as a heritage site, it holds significant architectural value within the "Pretoria Architecture" tradition. When the new owners acquired the house in 2018, they aimed to preserve its original character while updating it for contemporary living.
The renovation, guided by the phrase "back to the start," focused on restoring the core design elements of the home without adding new spaces or functions. Key goals included improving natural light and internal circulation while retaining the original structure. Dark spaces were brightened by plastering certain walls, and new, clean plasterwork with shadowlines was introduced to complement the existing design.
The home’s floating concrete roofs, replacing the old wooden pergola, and reinterpreted support columns exemplify the successful blend of modernist roots with contemporary design. The project showcases the “familiarity of the new,” as the renovations highlight and refine the original architectural ideas. This approach respects the use of natural materials like wood, stone, and brick, as championed by Konya, to create a timeless, honest design fit for modern living.
ODE TO OAK
Rebel Base Collective
Auckland Park, Johannesburg
HERITAGE RE-CRAFTED
Our aim was to create a refined piece of architecture that would adorn the northern façade of The Country Club Johannesburg, Auckland Park, clubhouse patio. A piece, that not only addressed all the club’s practical needs but also the challenges posed by its heritage, both structurally and socially.
The roofs undulating form creates an open, light and voluminous space that is also intimate. This hovers above and tucks behind the existing nautical, art-deco handrail in a junctural marriage between the existing and the proposed. The roof’s deep overhangs allow for the space to be fully shaded during summer and baked in sunlight during Johannesburg’s chilly winter months, making the patio a pleasant year-round experience.
The rounded perforated-ceiling surface also allows for optimal acoustic performance by absorbing and diffusing noise. The clear story windows allow light into the open space whilst creating framed views to the sky and into the canopy of the grand old oak tree, which is further celebrated through a semi-circular cut out in the eastern-most vault. The soft tapered profile of the vaults allows the building’s roofline to merge into the sky and carries the eye out to the northern forest.
All built parts of the project have been carefully detailed and composed to create spatial conversations between the old and new, the technologically advanced and hand-made and the past and future presence of this, historically prominent, Johannesburg institution.
This manifests in a bold, yet soft structure which frames views into the original Edwardian, nods to the old Art-deco extension of the restaurant’s interior, unfolds itself into the hero oak tree and rolling lawns whilst the weighty utilitarian concrete base of the reflecting and trickling water feature allows the roof to float.
