Mary Oppenheimer Daughters Office, Johannesburg

The Mary Oppenheimer and Daughters offices are located in the Conservatory on Baker Building and perfectly positioned in a contemporary building that soaks up Rosebanks’ lifestyle vibe, offering best of the light and city views from the top floors. The clients used the top floor for their dining room and café with panoramic views of the tree filled vistas of Johannesburg.

Giant Leap were commissioned to design a working environment for the client’s family office. The brief was to create space that is light and airy, and had a feeling of home. As the family is steeped in tradition, they wanted a classical interior with the modernism of an office of today. The major task of the design team was to mix the two styles of classic and modern.

The designers’ approach was to keep the structural elements to a large degree in a classical language, such as the high skirting, dado rails, elaborate cornicing and panelled cupboards. Versailles panel timber flooring from Oggie was placed in an intricate woodwork style and tied in beautifully with their antique furniture. By using a different finish on the floor, they were able to make it look more contemporary in keeping with the clean lines of the overall office design.

Modern lines feature in the glass facades and bright walls with contemporary wallpaper in the meeting rooms. The rest of the office space we kept as neutral as possible to showcase the family’s extensive art collection. A large selection of beautiful, antique furniture was juxtaposed with more modern and flexible office furniture, creating a perfect fusion of old and new.