Quadrant House Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Architect: Alfred Arthur Ritchie McKINLAY Restoration Architects 1989: HALLEN THERON and PARTNERS

Corner view Photographer: Roger Fisher - 2013 10 12

Date: 1929-34 Type: Flats with shops to street Style: Majolica - Berea Style Status: Extant Street: Victoria Embankment

Coordinates: 29°51'40.97" S 31°01'21.94" E Alt: 2m

Notes: Subject to a fairly recent refurbishment and external restoration, Quadrant House is a little jewel on the Victoria Embankment. It is considered one of the epitomes of the so-called Berea Style, which arose from local interest in Spanish colonial architecture as found on the west coast of North America. The building is characterised by a prominent central bay with a shell motif. Other key elements are a hierarchical play of hipped pavilion roofs and a series of Spanish frames to the windows and veranda openings. The original plan was quite chaotic: the ground floor was given over to shops while the accommodation above was a maze of small rooms, which were accessed from a central staircase. One of the difficulties in planning the building must have been the shape of the site, a quarter circle or quadrant from which the building derives its name. Fortunately the restoration has been sympathetic, keeping intact the major external characteristics of this clever little building. (Radford 2002:17) (attrib Sunday Tribune Dec 25, 1988; attrib NIA Jnl 3/4 1992:6 ill) Read Art Deco Durban, December 3, 2019 by Kathy Munro on The Heritage Portal.

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Street context from Victoria Embankment Photographer: Roger Fisher - 2013 10 12 Central bay Photographer: Roger Fisher - 2013 10 12 Hipped pavilion roofs Photographer: Roger Fisher - 2013 10 12 Detail of central bay Photographer: Roger Fisher - 2013 10 12 Detail of central bay Photographer: Roger Fisher - 2013 10 12 Detail of Majolica shell motif Photographer: Roger Fisher - 2013 10 12 View from southwest Source: The Heritage Portal Photographer: Kathy Munro - 2019

Drawing 149 of 365 by Shaun Gaylard Click for larger image Undated postcard distributed by Promco. Cars look circa 1980s Posted on Artefacts FB page courtesy of Mark Finnigan Photographer: Unidentified