Clifton Terraces Wins Residential Development Award

Clifton Terraces

Laurence Grigorov is director and founder of a Johannesburg based residential property development company. The company is constantly evolving in the architectural products it provides to its customers. Laurence Grigorov is an admirer of modern and contemporary architecture and styles and looks to development projects that promote these aspects.

As featured in the Aug/Sept 2018 edition of Architect & Builder Magazine, he highlight of the annual SAPOA Conference, the 2018 SAPOA Property Development Awards are seen as the most important award for any commercial project in South Africa. The winner of the Residential Development category was Clifton Terraces in Cape Town.

Clifton Terraces is a residential development in one of the most sought-after locations in Africa; surrounded by the world-renowned Clifton Beaches, nestled between Lion’s Head and Table Mountain. Each of the residences boasts large, open plan entertaining and living areas with a large terrace overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

A key consideration of the design was blending the building into the natural surroundings using its overall form, its deep overhangs and a restrained natural palette of materials. The building terraces back significantly to mimic the existing contours of the original site prior to any development. This sensitive approach to placement on site ensured that views from neighbours on all three affected sides were kept to a minimum and in most cases improved. The colours, tones and materials were specifically chosen to blend in with the surroundings.

Carefully placed landscaped terraces on each level will ensure that the building will further disappear into the natural environment over time. Clifton Terraces consists of eight simplex apartments, two duplex apartments and two large villas; each with private and secure garaging with direct access lifts up to each apartment. Clifton Terraces’ expansive views, modern technologies and finest natural finishes.

Laurence Grigorov keeps up-to-date on many new developments in and around South Africa in order to keep abreast of current market and design trends.

Modric - Winner of the 2018 Ballon d'Or

As director of a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, Laurence Grigorov is involved in all aspects of the development process, including land acquisition, rezoning applications, architectural design as well as the finance and legal components of these complex projects.

Laurence Grigorov, who is an avid football fan and follows global football news closely with special attention on the Spanish La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid's Croatia midfielder Luka Modric was named winner of the 2018 Ballon d'Or, breaking Cristiano Ronaldo's and Lionel Messi's decade-long hold on the prestigious award. Juventus forward and 2017 winner Ronaldo came second, while Atletico Madrid and France striker Antoine Griezmann came third.

Paris St Germain's France forward Kylian Mbappe, who also collected the Kopa award for the best under-21 player, was fourth, with Barca forward Messi finishing fifth.

Olympique Lyonnais' Norway striker Ada Hegerberg won the inaugural Ballon d'Or for women's football, having led her side to the Women's Champions League title, scoring in extra time in the 4-1 win over Vfl Wolfsburg in the final.

Modric, 33, helped Real Madrid win a third successive Champions League title in May and also captained Croatia to their first World Cup final, being named player of the tournament despite his side losing 4-2 to France.

"It's a unique feeling. I'm happy proud and honoured, I have a lot of emotions right now, it's hard to describe in words," said Modric, wearing a tuxedo as he collected the award from presenter and former France forward David Ginola after a glamorous ceremony at the Grand Palais in Paris.

"It’s a big pleasure to be here among all these players. I am still trying to realise that I have become part of a group of exceptional players to win the Ballon d’Or throughout history."

Modric, who joined Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012 for a reported 40 million euros ($45.40 million), was criticised in his debut season at the Bernabeu and named the worst signing of the year in a poll by newspaper Marca. But the diminutive playmaker began to demonstrate the quality he had shown at Spurs when Jose Mourinho deployed him in a deep lying role in Real's midfield rather than the attacking role he had been given at the start of that campaign.
Modric said the positional change, which was first suggested to him by Harry Redknapp at Tottenham, transformed his form.

“The change of position helped me a lot in my career. I used to play more offensively. When I dropped back, I was able to read the game better and show my creativity," added Modric.
He is the first Croatian to win the Ballon d'Or and also picked up FIFA's 'The Best' award in October.
The Ballon d'or, voted for by journalists and organised by French magazine France Football, has been dominated by Barcelona's Messi and Ronaldo, first when he was at Manchester United and subsequently with Real Madrid, since 2008.

The last player to lift the award apart from the Argentine and Portuguese, who have won it a joint-record five times each, was Kaka in 2007 when the Brazilian played for AC Milan.
The Ballon d’Or was first presented in 1956 and partnered with soccer's world governing body FIFA as 'The Best' award from 2010 to 2015, until becoming its own entity again.
Words courtesy of www.supersport.com

Luka Modric

GLH Architects New Embassy Towers

As director at a residential property development company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Laurence Grigorov follows current residential projects in South Africa. This allows Laurence Grigorov to read market trends in terms of design as well as functionality and to use these concepts in future developments he is involved in.

Embassy Towers

Situated in the prestigious suburb of Sandhurst and enjoying unencumbered views is the magnificent apartment building, Embassy Towers. Tucked behind the United States Consulate in Sandton, the building enjoys breathtaking views across to the Magaliesburg mountains as well as in the south, east and western directions due to the residential scale of the surrounding neighbours.
Embassy Towers sits on the crest of the Sandhurst Ridge, thus occupying a proud position on the southern edge of the Sandton CBD. The building itself is positioned as close to the street frontage on Empire Place so as to provide large, lush private gardens with many of the mature trees retained from the original residential property. This large gardenscape and the small residential scale of the surrounding properties ensure that views are unimpeded, thus creating the sense that one is occupying a large parkland property, but with the convenience of being within the Sandton CBD.
The sparkling lights of Sandton are juxtaposed with the ample privacy and greenery of the garden, reminiscent of the great apartment buildings of Central Park, New York or Hyde Park, London. The natural fall of the site allowed for the entrance floor of the building to be situated at street level while the elevation of the site allows for the ground floor public area to look out over the neighbouring properties. This allows for the view of Sandton to unfold as one enters through the large glass doors of the reception while also retaining a human scale on the street frontage.
The 12-storey apartment building is a seamless blend between contemporary and timeless charm creating an architectural gem with amazing exposure over the skyline of Sandton. The timelessness of Embassy Towers is amplified by the sleek and simple proportions of the building ensuring that the architecture will age gracefully, while the large window expanses allow ample light into the building making a luxurious statement for those that occupy it. The apartments all have large glazed windows to the north and south, ensuring that the units enjoy the range of different light offered at different times of the day and the different seasons of the year.
Oriented perfectly to maximise the northern aspect, the 90 unit apartment building enjoys full benefit of the sun as well as views over Sandton in the foreground and the rest of the city in 360º.
While the building is comprised of 63 two bed units, 18 three bed units, four simplex units and five penthouses, all apartments are sizeable, and the open plan allows the occupant enjoyment of ample living spaces and large bedrooms. The apartments have been specifically designed to ensure natural light penetrates deeply into the apartment from north and south. The interconnected lounge, living room and kitchen are bathed in light due to the large flush glazing elements that bound the apartment on the north and south façades. Even the bathrooms in the main bedrooms are fully glazed so as to allow the natural light to permeate into the apartment.
All of these elements have ensured that Embassy Towers has become the benchmark for luxury living in the city.

Photo and words courtesy of Architect and Builder magazine.