Because a name like Mad Giant conjures images of grandeur (and insanity), it’s only fitting that the home of the Johannesburg brewery and Urbanologi restaurant would also be larger than life. Haldane Martin and his eponymous Cape Town, South Africa-based firm realized brand’s renegade spirit by repurposing a century-old industrial shed in the city’s historic inner suburb of Ferreirasdorp.
The design was additionally informed by Meccano model construction kits from the Victorian era. Furnishings and fixtures like wheel-shaped beer hall chandeliers capture the toys’ mechanical forms, while graffiti murals of young faces grace the walls, perpetuating a childlike motif throughout the factory setting.
“The concept of using scaled up Meccano metal construction kit parts to build many of the furniture and lighting elements was quite key to pulling all of this together,” Martin notes. “We combined the industrial steel and concrete with warm quality materials like wood and leather, and also detailed everything very thoroughly so that the result is industrial yet very refined.”
Original cast concrete flooring spans the entrance and beer hall before pixelating into a herringbone parquet pattern. Made from recycled Rhodesian teak—a popular finish in the city during the 1960s—the rustic deviation enhances the dining room and tasting bar with a more elegant appearance.
The central double volume ceiling is painted white to reflect daylight, while lower ceilings and exterior walls wear black to better mesh with an evening atmosphere. Martin dressed the interiors in a complementary palette of the beer brand’s dark green and burnt red tones. “One of the challenges was to create a space that was equally enjoyable day and night,” he explains, noting the team achieved this “with sensitivity to ceiling colors.”
Also reflecting light within the space is the towering 23-foot-tall Mad Giant yeti statue. Made from mild steel, the installation has an iridescent brass finish that changes with its exposure to light.
During the renovation, internal walls were gutted, the roof replaced, and the front of the building opened up thanks to new steel and glass folding doors. A retractable awning hangs over the new terrace from an I-beam network. “The building needed a welcoming entrance, so we extended the I-beam structure that is so dominant on the inside of the building to the outside of the building,” painting it burnt red, Martin notes. The team also kept the corrugated iron wall cladding on one side of the building. “This material has historical significance in this area, as it was what the early mining town was original built from in the late 1800s,” he explains.
The outdoor patio area features aluminum Meccano-inspired tables and benches, made to capture the playful DIY ideology at Mad Giant’s core. Bespoke indoor seating varies from rebar chairs upholstered in distressed leather to ribbed diner-style booths in avocado green.
Located inside the brewery, Urbanologi’s raw steel kitchen counter reflects the qualities of Asian street cuisine with a minimalist layout, including concrete and polyurethane bars shaped like extra large beer caps.
