Westown Square Reveals Exciting Community Market Experience

March 2024, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal – Created to embody a community market experience, The Barn on The Square (THE BARN) includes an eclectic selection of artisanal homeware, art, beauty, fashion, food and beverage outlets, alongside quality restaurants and niche concept eateries, all housed in an iconic barn-shaped structure.

THE BARN is the spatial heart of the new Westown Square high-street retail experience in Westown, Shongweni which is due to open in March 2025. Located in Durban’s Outer West, and strategically positioned off the M13 and N3 highways, Westown Square is the ?rst development activity within the 100ha Westown mixed-use property development.

With approved development rights of approximately 520 000m² of bulk floor area, Westown’s Urban Core includes signi?cant Retail, Mixed Use, Residential, Commercial, Logistics and Recreational precincts that will come online over the next 5 years and are set to unlock, reshape, and revitalise the region by creating a new economic hub

THE BARN is a core component of the overall Westown offering and is expected to become one of the high-street shopping environments that will make Westown Square one of the region’s most popular destinations for locals and tourists alike.

Providing a permanent niche retail space for local artisanal traders, this authentic retail offering reflects the high-street design approach that makes Westown unique. “THE BARN establishes itself as the spatial heart of Westown Square and as such connects seamlessly with our differentiating tenant mix that includes a host of retail fashion tenants and hand-picked restauranteurs. Together this creates a first-of-its-kind retail shopping environment and a world-class shopping experience that will set the pace of retail shopping for South Africa, “ shared Lana Pattison divisional director of retail leasing for Westown developers, Fundamentum Property Group.

Centrally located within Westown Square THE BARN adjoins the Town Square piazza and Town Gardens, with its tall barn-shaped structure juxtaposed to the aesthetic of the surrounding retail development and immediately distinguishable as something unique. Spread over multiple levels, lifts, stairs and pedestrian bridges ensure the flow of shoppers through this unique space with several entrances connecting it with Westown Square.

This high-volume space is designed with a ?exible facade which means THE BARN can open up, linking the interior and exterior and creating a seamless ?ow between the activities within and the shared public space of the piazza and gardens outside. This encourages people to meander through and explore this unique space while staying connected to the retail offering of Westown Square.

A MULTI-PURPOSE SPACE

In an era with an ever-growing culture of online shopping and social media marketing, THE BARN establishes itself as a shared space for community connection and enjoyment. Its destination-based tenant mix has been specifically curated to create a vibrant energy and social gathering place, and the open-plan multi-level space allows visibility across all 4 trading levels from almost any point.

The upper level of THE BARN will feature owner-operated restaurants complemented by a craft brewery creating the perfect space for shoppers to linger in. While each of these quality spaces is designed to give patrons a sit-down artisanal restaurant experience, their location around the central atrium on the upper level will allow the ambience to ?ow throughout.

The lower level of THE BARN is home to The Market which boasts a central dining atrium, an event space, niche retail offerings and an artisanal Food Market.

“We have designed this space and The Barn as a whole, around the experiential concept of meandering through a traditional high street market, where shoppers can explore the offerings along the streets, grab something fresh to eat from a local vendor or sit and enjoy a coffee or drink while watching local musicians perform in the atrium,” says architect Patrick Surmon of Sculpt Spaces.

The trigger project in the 100ha Westown development, Westown Square and THE BARN will open on 27 March 2025.

ABOUT WESTOWN – www.westown.co.za

Westown is a place – the new City of the West. A ground-breaking, locally-driven initiative that connects people with spaces and experiences, bringing new opportunities to live, work and thrive. The Shongweni area has a unique character in terms of its topography and history. Borrowing from the natural beauty of the area, characterised by extensive green spaces and outdoor pastimes, this is a place that will develop organically and according to the needs of the people that live there. A mixed-use node of urban and green spaces, Westown is a significant socio-economic investment for the region, balancing uses and activities, visual appeal and comfort, accessibility and linkage, in order to activate the full potential of the Outer West and sustain it for generations to come.

ABOUT FUNDAMENTUM PROPERTY GROUP – http://www.fundamentum.co.za/

Fundamentum specialises in asset management, property development, consulting and retail leasing, with a passion for building trusted relationships with their Partners. With substantial combined experience, they own, develop and manage a portfolio of quality properties. Founded in Durban, South Africa in 2012, the Fundamentum Property Group has grown exponentially. Their dynamic, future-forward view offers a fresh approach to their investment portfolio – spread over retail, commercial, industrial and logistics – and informs their philosophy ‘to do things quickly and correctly’. Their executive team came together with a common vision – to bring together property proficiency, financial know-how and an entrepreneurial spirit to create something unique within the property sector.