‘W
E’RE creating homes in the sky.” So says Jonathan Liebmann, founder and CEO of Propertuity, about his latest project, Hallmark House in New Doornfontein. The striking black building boasts a 46-room hotel and a unique mix of affordable and luxury housing, with every unit featuring a generous outdoor terrace clad in plants. “When they’ve grown in, it will look like there’s a hanging forest around the building’s black core,” he says. “It will be a floating green space in a hardcore urban environment.”
Creating a building as striking as this one is perhaps less of a daunting task when you have one of the world’s most famous architects in your camp. David Adjaye was on a trip to Joburg when Liebmann approached him to take on the project, his first in South Africa. “He brings a huge amount of credibility to the building,” says Liebmann, who, as a design-focused developer, sees the partnership as a highlight of his career evolution to date.
Propertuity has already sold 90% of the units — hardly surprising considering that, as the developer of the Maboneng precinct, it has sold more sectional title units over the past five years in the Joburg CBD than have been sold in the rest of the CBD combined.
That said, the building is not just about its units. The overall concept is to create layers of experience, and with this in mind, starting at the top, you’ll find a rooftop gym, spa, bar and restaurant. Floors 15 and 14 are the domain of the luxury penthouses, where Jonathan and his wife, designer Aimee Henning of Malica Design, Adjaye and others have nabbed their spots.
The 12th floor boasts an outdoor yoga and meditation space and, moving down, you find the more affordable units, a hotel, and three levels of parking. The ground floor is home to a coffee shop and restaurant and the lower ground will soon house a jazz bar, speakeasy and barber.
Henning was tasked with the interiors of the ground floor and Liebmann’s brief to her, as to Adjaye, was to try to define a new, contemporary, African aesthetic. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re in the middle of Europe, like you often do in Cape Town or Rosebank,” he says. “We need to have our own identity, without being twee.”
Henning ran with the brief, bringing to the interiors Adjaye’s colour palette for the façade of the building. “I’ve used black, green, metallics and muddy tones throughout, which give the space a sophisticated African feel,” she says.
She’s added pieces by local talent such as Pedersen + Lennard and Dark Horse to a selection of vintage furniture bought on auction. “The space is very textured,” she says. “I’ve contrasted hard and soft, straight and curved, new and old.”
The design of the space was kick-started by artist Marcus Neustetter, who was given a blank canvas of reed wallpaper spanning the length of the lobby and restaurant. “He put on headphones and just painted,” says Henning.
Bringing together art, design, top global architecture and African-inspired interiors, this exciting new space nurtures Joburg’s unique cultural identity and provides another reason to venture downtown.
hallmarkhouse.co.za, malicadesign.co.za