Quadrant House, 114/117 Victoria Embankment, Durban

A significant corner building in an embankment setting and a fine decorative example of the Mediterranean Revival style.

In 1929, H Live commissioned architect Ritchie Mackinlay to design a building suitable for a naval training school. It was named Quadrant House because of the association with the shape of the site and of a quadrant as used in navigation.

Ritchie Mackinlay was one of the chief motivators of the 'Berea Style', which arose from an interest in Spanish colonial architecture on the west coast of America. The style was facilitated by the manufacture of clay products by Coronation Brick Works, Cordova roof tiles, special bricks and quarry tiles. These buildings were characterized by symmetry around a central bay, Spanish shell motifs and murals and an hierarchical play of hipped pavilion roofs. Quadrant House is considered one of Ritchie Mackinlay¹s finest buildings in this idiom.

In 1950 the building was adapted to residential use : individual rooms with communal bathrooms. Due to inadequate care and maintenance, the building deteriorated. In 1986 Quadrant House was acquired by a Durban based company with long-standing links with the City and harbour. Because of the building¹s historic shipping references and its location overlooking the bay, it was refurbished for use as their head office.

Trish Emmett of Emmett & Emmett Architects was very involved in the restoration of the building.

The building acknowledges the corner with its curved form. The colonnaded ground floor is articulated to form a portico in the center, expressing the entrance. Nautical references are found in the dominant central panel. Quadrant House was proclaimed a National Monument on 23 September 1988.