Union Square is located at 80 Plein Street opposite the Noord Street Taxi Rank in the heart of the Johannesburg CBD.
The building is a 19 storey former office building with 3 parking basements previously owned by Transnet and transferred to Joshco from the HDA. It was originally built in 1969 for the Union Ground Corporation Ltd. The building has been converted into residential units on floors 1-19. The Ground Floor remains retail space.
The refurbish provides a mix of bachelor, 1 and 2 bedroom units catering to the affordable inner-city rental market. In addition each floor has a cluster unit comprising of 4 rooms sharing 2 bathrooms and a kitchen area. This range of unit typologies allows a mix of family types from singles to extended families to be housed in a single building, fulfilling JOSHCO’s mandate to reach deeper down the housing affordability ladder.
The building also contains a range of recreational, social and utility spaces that supports residential life. These include play areas, laundry rooms, meeting and homework rooms. Alternative Lightweight walling systems were used during construction.
A number of sustainable features have been incorporated in the provision of services such as increased energy and water efficiency through efficient hot water provision, lighting and taps.
Adaptive re-use of unused building assets contributes to a sustainable city. The final project contains 344 units and potentially has the capacity to home for over 600 people.
