The Signature in Cape Town

The Signature in Cape Town

Laurence Grigorov, as director of a leading residential development company, keeps abreast of local international design trends. This guides the company in upcoming projects they are involved in. Laurence Grigorov is involved in luxury residential projects in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Developed by Signatura and designed to accommodate their new head office, this distinctive mixed-use building in the vibrant heart of Green Point’s De Waterkant Village offers city living whilst still respecting the character of the neighbourhood.

The brief to Darryl Croome Architects was to design Signatura’s flagship project that would house their new office as well as a mix of high-end one to three bedroom apartments with exclusive penthouses, tenanted commercial area and appropriate parking. The sloped site posed level challenges that were overcome by careful design and planning of the programme that responded to the street and urban interface. The site’s location on the Fan Walk offered an opportunity to enhance the unique streetscape The property has a Mixed Use 2 zoning, which is basically one of the most “use permissible” zonings within the City. Therefore, it was proposed that the development utilise mostly existing rights as afforded by the Municipal Planning By-Law. Only some relatively minor land use applications were required to ensure an appropriate built form and to ensure an appropriate reduction in parking requirements due to the location of the property. A facilitative and practical working relationship with the City contributed to the success of the project in terms of the timeous delivery of a well-designed project.

The building was conceived as two independent but integrated blocks, joined with a multi-volume and multi-levelled atrium, providing for public access to commercial spaces at street level. The front block, comprising of commercial space and luxurious flats facing Table Mountain, shares a pedestrianised forecourt with Somerset Road, whilst the lower block, predominantly residential facing the harbour, stretches to Prestwich Street and responds to the Victorian scale and character of Liddle and Cobern Streets. The perimeter podium envelope helped to reduce the scale of the street façade and reference the historic row housing and warehouse massing which allowed generous terrace areas above.

The Victorian docklands architecture, unique to the area, has been expressed in a raw industrial aesthetic, while recognising the contemporary demands of high-end, inner-city living. Face brick, off-shutter concrete, black steel, expansive glass, with perforated aluminium screens, provide a distinctive language for this iconic building. The residential tower blocks are set back and developed in brick, concrete, steel and glass with recessed balconies, Juliet ledges and sun screening elements give articulation to the façades. 

Reminiscent of the world-renowned V&A Waterfront with its distinctive dockland settings, The Signature experience is all about combining an industrial aesthetic with a contemporary edge. This approach has directly influenced the carefully selected palette of materials with floor-to-ceiling glazing, off-shutter concrete and floating white bulkheads. The warmth of timber vinyl floors is complemented with designer kitchens, vanities and BICs, while track and LED strip lighting illuminate the living spaces. Natural materials, as in timber decking, are used for all balconies and terraces, while planted terraces and roof gardens are a distinctive feature of the building. The interior planning was designed to maximise the views and natural light. Open plan kitchens and living rooms read as larger spaces that flow into one another and are visually linked to the outdoors.

This project’s unique location allows residents to access the CBD easily as well as the surrounding retail, nightlife and distinct landmark locations that make Cape Town such a dynamic environment.

Words and photo courtesy of Architect & Builder magazine

Gains on the Go: Your Guide to Muscle Growth While Traveling

As director of a residential property development company, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, that specialises in luxury apartments and bespoke homes Laurence Grigorov enjoys traveling and exercising in his spare time.

Laurence Grigorov enjoys training at the gym and is continuously keeping track of nutritional and supplement information.

Travelling for work is a sure way to lose track of your progress as well as your commitment levels, that’s why a recent article by Team Cellucorc caught the attention of Laurence Grigorov:

If you worry about losing your hard-earned gains when you travel, it’s time to stop fretting and do something about it. Start with this four-point guide to making a plan for your on-the-road fitness. Not having access to a gym or a lot of training equipment is no longer a reason to miss a workout even if you’re on the road. Plus, there are crucial nutritional quick fixes that can boost your performance and keep your body’s anabolic action switched on.

1. Think Minimal Equipment

Your workouts can, in fact, be completed with the use of your own body weight and either a pair of dumbbells or a single kettlebell. As counterintuitive as that may sound, some of my best workouts have taken place on the road like that. What makes this minimal training maximally effective, though, is the weight, or load, you choose. 

Select a load that you can move well and without stopping. It should be challenging but not so challenging that you break your form on any exercise. You should be able to train proficiently with this load for at least 30 seconds without stopping.

2. Be Aware Of Time Efficiency

Your workouts should be effective and efficient, easily completed in less than 45 minutes, including a 5-10-minute warm-up. Whether you’re vacationing or traveling for work, no one wants an inordinate dose of training time to interfere with the main purpose of the trip.

3. Focus On Intensity

Your workouts should be flat-out hard. You won’t stand around much, you will sweat, and you should step outside of your comfort zone. A relatively short session means you have to train with an all-out mindset. If you examine the two sample workouts closely, you’ll see that the time spent actually moving is less than 30 minutes in both cases. Based on my personal and professional experience, I believe that is a perfect amount of time for you to work extremely hard and come out of the workout feeling both challenged and accomplished.

Make it your number-one priority to lift nonstop during your work intervals. Occasionally pausing your timer is perfectly acceptable; I do it all the time, especially to hydrate, sip on my supplements, and ensure that the quality of my training session remains sky-high.

Ideally, you would never set down your weight(s) during a work interval; you want to recover as quickly as possible during your very brief rest periods and be ready to go at the very beginning of every new work interval.

4. Target Your Whole Body

Your workouts should hit the entire body with the primary muscle groups—the big, compound muscles. Emphasize multijoint exercises, and make a balanced attack by selecting exercises that work opposing muscle groups; for example, chest and back.

In choosing the exercises for your total-body workout, consider the following points:

Use multijoint exercises such as squats, deadlifts, lunges, Romanian deadlifts, swings, high pulls, shoulder presses, chest presses, push-ups, rows, and upright rows.

Look for balance and variety. Generally, you want to pick 6-12 different exercises, including upper-body and lower-body moves.

Also select 2-4 exercises that are not resistance based for cardio and/or active recovery, such as jumping jacks, mountain climbers, bodyweight squat jumps, split-squat jumps, sprints/high knees, planks/bridges, and ab/trunk work.

Organize your workout along a classic sequence of exercises; for example, performing multijoint exercises plus isolation exercises for each individual muscle group, alternating opposing muscle groups, and/or alternating upper-body and lower-body muscle groups.

5. Supplementation Is King

When I travel, convenience trumps everything. Make it easy for yourself to fuel your body properly with minimal prep time when you’re on the go. No solid food and Tupperware; just one shaker bottle and two main supplements…easy breezy!

In addition, research has shown that, even at rest, you can stimulate muscle protein synthesis by taking in branched-chain amino acids or a complete protein source. 

As a convenient muscle-building quick fix, you can also drink your BCAAs between solid-food meals in order to trigger muscle protein synthesis and keep the gains pouring in!

6. Blazing The Road To Growth

There’s no excuse to skip training when you’re on the road. My best advice is to plan ahead. Write up a few different training protocols using my recommendations, pack your supplements, and bring your equipment and workout clothes. Then, find an open space—an open field, your hotel room, or even the hotel fitness center—focus your mind, and keep those gains coming!

Words and image courtesy of www.bodybuilding.com