Mill Junction

We are in Johannesburg, population 6 million, the largest city of South Africa.

A few months ago, at the end of February, a year after work began on site, Mill Junction opened, an eleven-storey dormitory built by Citiq Students (a satellite company of Jika Properties Pty) inside five abandoned silos, previously used to store grain, to which were added, on the side and top a series of 50-year old containers.

Situated in the Newtown district, rebuilt in 1904 after a fire set off by the fire brigade to eradicate an epidemic of bubonic plague (previously the area was called Brickfields because of the large quantity of clay present, used for the production of a conspicuous number of bricks), the building is strategically placed close to the railway and within easy reach of the University of Witwatersand (Wits), University of Johannesburg (UJ), the ADFA film school and a number of colleges such as Birnam Business College, the Damelin and the City Varsity.

There are 375 beds available, organised in single and double rooms (in the containers) and apartments (inside the silos) that are enhanced by the presence of a multitude of services such as studios and libraries, multi-media suites, informal spaces for relaxation, bar and communal kitchens, a gym and even a climbing wall. All the spaces are distinguished by the use of bright colours. There is free WiFi for all the lodgers in the building while a reception open 24/7 with a fingerprint access control system offers a high level of security.

The Mill Junction urban regeneration project could be described as an intervention that is “sustainable to the power of three”.
Beginning with the first level, the environmental one: heat pumps for producing hot water and heating irradiate across the entire structure like a cardiovascular system. The windows, present in each room, are equipped with a movement device with light sensor that activates the opening and closing of the double-glazed windows. Citiq reckon that thanks to these simple details the building uses half as much energy as one in a similar category, of the same size and function. Finally, the coloured containers that characterise the building have been salvaged and well-insulated, saving them from a slow, costly as well as polluting process of elimination.

The second level regards the economic component. On one hand the very low building costs. On the other the price of the services offered: staying in the building is relatively cheap with respect to the average income of families with children embarking on university or high school courses.

The third reflects on the procedural and social characteristics of the initiative. The building, that is just under 40 metres high, took twelve months to complete, giving a contextual, concrete and rapid response to a shortage of student accommodation that was creating a mini-process of delocalisation to other cities or in the case of young people from families with a low to medium income, causing them to abandon their studies altogether.

An important feature, for various reasons, was the desire to build a panoramic roof terrace with artificial grass so as to increase opportunities for visual relationships with the surrounding territory, offering new stimuli and new opportunities for urban interpretation on the part of the inhabitants. When observed from the outside, Mill Junction presents itself as a landmark with a contemporary feel, with a nod to nostalgic adorers of Kevin Lynch, lately obscured by the incessant and uncontrollable standardisation/globalisation of projects for student accommodation.

Paul Laphman, head of Citiq, appears to be optimistic also with regards to the possibility of replicating the initiative although he highlights the need to experiment with new ways for reusing the shipping containers and making them energy efficient.
Given the quantity of disused structures with a strongly dislocated identity in various university cities across Europe, with the right kind of contextualisation and modifications who knows if Mill Junction will inspire a string of long-sighted entrepreneurs to begin a process of urban regeneration that serves the community, their budgets and a university and education system that is increasingly under pressure due to a lack of supporting structures.

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Mill Junction, Johannesburg
Program: student residence
Building constructor: Citiq Students
Completion: 2014