Manners Mansions, Art Deco residential building in central Johannesburg, South Africa.
Manners Mansions is a fourteen-story Art Deco residential structure at the corner of Jeppe and Joubert Streets in Johannesburg's commercial core, featuring rounded corners throughout its design. Upper floors contain apartments while ground level incorporates shops, connected by a distinctive horseshoe-shaped staircase adorned with mosaic work.
Manners Mansions was designed by the firm Emley and Williamson for African City Property Trust and built between 1937 and 1939. The tender price was £148,000, and the contractors were Reid & Knuckley Pty Ltd. It was named after Sir George Espec John Manners.
The ground floor held high-end shops with curved Art Deco fronts in bronze and glass. Early tenants included Madame Paulines, a specialty clothing shop opened by Mrs Pickles with interiors by H. S. Tompkins, and the French Model School, which taught mannequin training, deportment and dress design. The rounded corner house was long a favoured spot for cigarette and pipe smokers.
The building sits at a busy street intersection and is easy to reach on foot, with its rounded form helping orient visitors in the area. You can admire the exterior architecture and observe the mosaic details in the staircase as you approach the entrance.
The smooth, rounded form of the structure follows principles from 1930s automotive and aircraft engineering to minimize wind resistance. This application of industrial engineering knowledge to residential design makes it an unusual example for its era.
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