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Premier Milling's Newtown silos have been bought by a developer with big plans for the
round buildings. They will be converted into apartments, all with great views
of the city.
The derelict silos off Quinn Street in Newtown, ready for redevelopment
F
ANCY living in a grain silo in the CBD? It’s possible, with a new R20-million development, coming on stream in 18 months’ time, to be called The Silos.
Builder and developer Paul Seggie has just bought Premier Milling’s 10 silos off Quinn Street in Newtown, and plans to turn them into 19 flats, including two luxury penthouses. All will have stunning views of the CBD skyline, and the penthouses will have their own roof gardens.
Seggie says that as a boy he liked the idea of silos and making something of them.
The silos, part of the Premier Milling complex of factory buildings in the CBD, were built in the early 1970s but have stood vacant and have become increasingly more derelict over the past 20 years. They stand alongside the now defunct railway lines, the means by which the grain was transported to the city. It was offloaded into the silos using underground funnels.
Across the road were the mills - now a successful office block conversion called The Mills. Premier Milling sold 26 stands in Newtown in 2002 to various developers and moved to new premises in Woodmead.
The western edge of the CBD has long been neglected, with its buildings reflecting a range of architectural styles, indicating its industrial nature.
A rebirth
But in recent years the area has experienced a rebirth – the internationally known Kippies jazz club has found a home next door to The Mills building. Across the road the architects that developed The Mills, Urban Solutions, converted an old office building into residential space called The Newtown.
Within a few blocks is Carfax nightclub. They are all on the doorstep of Mary Fitzgerald Square, the centre of Newtown’s revitalisation. The Market Theatre, Museum Africa, the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, the Dance Factory, the Bassline nightclub, and several restaurants complete the picture.
Seggie is all too aware that the area has heritage value, and he will keep the metal industrial windows of the adjoining building and the basic feel of the structures. “I will be keeping the integrity of the cylinders.”
The silos with the adjoining building are ripe for re-use
He marvels at the “miracles of precision building” of the silos. The 10 structures are built in two rows of five on a slight incline of 2,4 metres, at a height of 36 metres, with a diameter of six metres each. And yet, they are exact replicas of one another, to within 10 millimetres.
Architect Alastair Forsyth of Albonica Sack Mzumara Architects, the firm tasked with designing the conversion, says the walls are 18cm thick, constructed to hold the weight of the grain. For this reason they are structurally very capable of withstanding any additions that will be part of the development.
“The weight of the grain was much, more more than the weight we’re going to be adding. In a sense, the silos have been over-designed.”
Forsyth describes them as a “feat of engineering construction”, which he doubts could be repeated today.
Round views
Seggie particularly likes the fact that the flats will have round rooms, with round views.
“Every apartment will have unadulterated views. They will know they’re living in a silo,” he says. The units will start from 11 metres up the silos, the point from where views are possible.
Forsyth says the initial challenge of the silo project was the fact that the structures are all joined, and that there are no straight walls except for the massive vertical wall down the middle that joins them.
A vertical wall will be added, to be used in the bathrooms, Forsyth explains. There is easy access to the M1 south – he’s measured it out at exactly 45 metres from the onramp to the buildings.
Each apartment will have massive windows and balconies. A wooden deck with a pool, a small gym and a sundeck will extend outwards over the next building. Parking will be in the adjacent building, and walkways will extend from the parking to each unit.
There will be two levels of offices at the bottom of the silos – some 750m² of space, looking on to the narrow passage created by the two buildings on either side of the silos.
The complex will consist of one-bedroomed flats of 85m², going for R800 000; two-bedroomed apartments of 125m², up for grabs at R1,2-million; and two penthouses of 200m², going at R2,5-million. That works out at about R8 000m².
Already six of the units have been snapped up. Seggie says that although the basic layout will be the same, every apartment will be unique.
Seggie has been involved in other conversions – The Refinery lofts in Milpark, formerly a set of factory buildings, and converting a building in Braamfontein to office space.
The penthouse owners of The Silos are in for a treat – Seggie is a welder and one of his favourite items of metal work is staircases. “I love staircases,” he gushes, “I could weld before I could write.” He’s been in the building industry for the past six years, but has travelled the world and lived in Soweto for two years.
“If you call yourself a South African, you should have lived in a township. Besides, I employ guys who live there, so I wanted to know what it was like.”
Construction of The Silos begins in February. “This is a very exciting assignment,” concedes Forsyth.
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