| Date: | 1938 | Type: | Post Office | |
| Status: | Extant but altered |
Click to view mapCoordinates:
26°12'50.33" S 28°09'42.15" E Alt: 1665m | | The building contract for the new Post Office at Germiston has been awarded to Messrs. H. R. Otto (Pty.) Ltd. for the sum of £13,438 [R 26 876], and a start is being made.
The site of the buildings is a very important one, being on the corner of President Street and
Broad Street, and facing the main public square, next to the existing Police Quarters.
Designed with an eye to a minimum maintenance and upkeep, Witkoppen granite has been
specified externally up to the window cills, to the door surrounds, columns and yard walling.
The steel windows are large and well-proportioned, with horizontal sheets of glass to accord
with the general horizontal feeling of the design. The roof extends in an unbroken simple slope for the whole length of the building. and is to be laid with large slates from a South African quarry.
A feature has been made of the private boxes, by placing them on the inner wall of the 5 foot [1,5] entrance loggia. Surrounded by a granite frame, and 13 feet [3,9m] back from the outside wall, they are well protected from the weather, and form an attractive central feature to the front facade. A pleasing feature, too, of the entrances which lead to the public spaces are the wrought-iron grilles.
The European [sic] public space, 63 feet [18,9m] long by 21 feet [6,3m] wide, is well lit and is fitted with adequate counter space; while, beyond, the several rooms for messengers, telegraphs, C.O.D. etc., have been arranged.
The non-European [sic] public space, reached from the central porch on the Broad Street frontage, is also spacious and well ventilated. Having its own separate counter and writing ledges, it is separated from the European [sic] space by a dividing wall, in which the historic glass panels formerly a feature of the old Post Office of Republican [ZAR] days have been placed.
Thus ·they are now seen by both sections of the public.
Call boxes have been arranged off the porch and loggias, and will be open to the public at all hours.
The general and administrative offices, viz., Postmaster's office, clerks, telephone accounts, male and female rest rooms, etc., have been grouped around a central area.
A through drive has been planned from President Street to Broad Street, enabling expeditious handling of mail matter. This has allowed, too, for the maximum use to be made of the site in the planning of the building. [Source: Newham, WBT. 1938. 'New Post Office for Germiston'. The Public Works of South Africa p27.
Tiles were done for this Post Office by the Ceramic Studio in 1934.
The building has been altered with the addition of a first floor.
2025: The building is now a Home Affairs office and was subject to an arson attack in August 2025, related to the eviction of people from a low cost housing scheme in Germiston. | |
