US soda giant's South African HQ moves to OR Tambo

Artist impression

From January next year, Pepsi - through its South African company Simba - will be headquartered at Krisp Properties' state-of-the-art 28,000m² GLA (gross leasable area) Clearwater Office Park along the increasingly sought-after Atlas Road, adjacent to the land earmarked for the aerotropolis.

Work on the R70-million high-tech, custom-built AAA-grade headquarters began in November last year, with tenant installations starting this month (October) ahead of the company's occupation in January, said Krisp Properties executive director Jordan Mann.

The modern building boasts impressive double-volume lobbies, rosewood doors and other top quality finishes.

"We have found a massive interest in high-end office space close to the airport as well as the aerotropolis precinct," said Mann. "There is immense national and international interest in the precinct and what is currently taking place here."

Custom built

Architect Francois Marais of Francois Marais Architects said the uniquely tailored design and construction of the building embraced new energy efficiency legislation, rather than being restricted by it.

A mezzanine level was introduced to the double storey headquarters to create more space, while a central courtyard enhanced the distribution of natural light throughout the building, he said.

"The building is designed as a 'green building', fully compliant with the Energy Efficiency Act. From the onset the design uses overhang over all the windows and doors to minimise the impact of the sun internally and to reduce the escape of heat out of the building," Marais said.

"The building was placed to face Atlas Road. Further to this the length of all the overhangs were determined by the north sun angles to reduce glare and lighting levels inside the building," said Marais. "The building has low glazing throughout to create an insulated building and reduce the heat loss in the winter and to lessen heat gain in the summer."

The power consumption in the building is reduced with a VRV air conditioning system controlling each section of the building. Because of this, the insulated building will require minimum heating and cooling to alter the internal temperatures.

"The modern lines of the building with the correct choice of colours make for a strikingly impressive building," he said.

Burgeoning demand

While many developers cut back amid a tight economy, Krisp is investing more than R500-million in expanding Clearwater Office Park, which aimed at complimenting the OR Tambo aerotropolis.

"Clearwater Office Park has already attracted major South African and international companies, including the Michelin Africa headquarters, Discovery Health, Barloworld, Old Mutual, ABSA Bank and Imperial Air Cargo," said Mann. "The addition of Pepsi underlines the strategic importance of this business node."

So great is the demand that the office park is having to more than double in size. The future expansion, according to Mann, will more than double the size of the existing office park, taking it from 28,000m² gross lettable area (GLA) to 60,000m² GLA over the next five years.

The company has added an average of 5,000m² of commercial space per year at the office park. When complete, there will be seven AAA-grade unique office park precincts.

"We see ourselves as the forerunners of what is happening here at the OR Tambo aerotropolis. It is a modern office park which has high traffic volumes along Atlas Road and high visibility," Mann said.

Clearwater Office Park was 90% let, Mann said, adding that the adjoining Clearwater Lifestyle Estate offered facilities such as tennis and squash courts, a gym, spa and a restaurant, all of which were available to the commercial tenants.

Mann said the company was leading the charge in developing "a new business node" along Atlas Road.

"Our unique location enables us to position ourselves as a conduit for - and compliment to - business within the aerotropolis development," said Mann.