BlackBrick Sandton 1 – 25 Fredman Drive, Sandton, Johannesburg

Aerial view of BlackBrick Sandton 1, located at 25 Fredman Drive in the heart of Sandton, Johannesburg. The distinctive dark-painted building forms part of Sandton’s growing collection of office-to-residential and hospitality conversions, and is surrounded by major commercial developments, landscaped grounds and the dense urban fabric of Sandton Central.

The building was originally constructed in the early 1980s as an office building and was subsequently occupied by organisations including Discovery and South African Breweries (SAB/AB InBev). BlackBrick acquired the property in 2018 and undertook a major conversion into its first apartment-hotel, opening in November 2020. The redevelopment retained the existing building while dramatically changing its identity through the application of a black exterior finish and the introduction of residential, hospitality, workspace and communal facilities. BlackBrick describes the project as the foundation of its wider “vertical village” concept.

The aerial photograph highlights the building’s compact, multi-wing plan, dark façade, extensive landscaping and internal courtyards. Its transformation is also representative of Sandton’s changing urban character, where older commercial properties are increasingly being adapted for mixed residential, hospitality and lifestyle uses.

 

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