The roof of Africa wears Dekton

Co-Arc International Architects

Image of Leonardo Tower 1 scaled 1 in Torre Leonardo - Cosentino

Location

Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa

Material

Dekton | Silestone

Colors

Gada – Blanco Orion – Cemento Spa – White Storm – Emperador – Pearl Jasmine – Eternal Marquina – Statuario

Quantity

27,500 m2

Architecture / Design

Co-Arc International Architects

Client

Legacy Group

End date

2019

Thickness

8, 12, 20 and 30 mm

A symbol of hope standing 234 metres high

The Leonardo tower, located in Sandton, Johannesburg, has become the tallest building in Africa. It measures 234 metres high and is divided into 55 floors. The work, which began in 2015 and was finished at the end of 2019, is, in the words of Bart Dorrestein, CEO of the company that built it, “a symbol of hope and the future for South Africa in difficult times”.

The Leonardo is located at 75 Maude Street, a stone’s throw from the economic, commercial and leisure hub that surrounds Nelson Mandela Square and the Sandton Convention Centre.

Image of Leonardo Tower 8 2 in Torre Leonardo - Cosentino

A sustainable and energy-efficient skyscraper

Designed by South African firm, Co-Arc International Architects, the Leonardo is a tower that has various uses. It houses luxury residential homes including apartments comprising up to three bedrooms, eight penthouse suites featuring 360-degree panoramic views (the Leonardo Suite measures over 2,800 m2), 15,000 m2 of premium office space, a hotel, shops, restaurants, a spa, a terrace with a swimming pool and a gym.

Adopting a clear sustainable approach, with an ecological construction plan and optimised energy efficiency, the Leonardo has also been built using the most advanced technology.

Dekton ultra-compact surfaces have been chosen to clad the façade, lobby and pillars to help achieve optimised energy efficiency. In total, over 24,350 m2 of Dekton play a key role in a building that has already made history.

Elegance on every surface

The façade is made up of 8-mm-thick pieces of Dekton, in the colour Gada. The natural colour of Gada combined with its delicate veining is also featured throughout the lobby. Its aesthetics blend perfectly with the columns, which are clad in the same material, this time using the colour Keon. This material’s industrial and unfinished colour range offers the perfect look.

In addition, the Leonardo’s interiors are enhanced by the elegance and functionality of Silestone surfaces. Kitchen and bathroom worktops, as well as tabletops throughout all 254 apartments, have been crafted in different white and light shades of Silestone. A variety of colours from Silestone’s Eternal series are also featured throughout the restaurants, bars, nursery and gym.