The new Vodacom World mall in Midrand, Gauteng opens to the public on Friday 7 December after an intensive revamp which has transformed it into the largest digital telecommunications mall in the world, boasting 6,000m2 of shopping and technology space. The launch of the re-invented Vodacom World marks twenty years since the first Vodaworld opened.
The fast-tracked project, managed and delivered by leading construction and property solutions company Profica, involved a multi-disciplinary team dedicating a total of 176 000-man hours, equating to a total of 7 333 days, to the project with a year [TW1] of planning and construction.
While initially appointed as project managers, the Profica team’s expertise in Design & Build delivery was then also harnessed to speed up the process. Tim White, CEO of Profica says, “Beyond the concept, interior design and the branding, we delivered the project for Vodacom World as a full engineering Design & Build turnkey solutions partner using a team of experienced professionals.
We took the risk to deliver it in a very tight timeframe and worked very closely with the client to make their vision a reality. We believe it will offer customers a truly unique experience that showcases the best evolving technology.”
For this project, Vodacom moved away from the standard tenant model and instead partnered with multiple companies to deliver extensive product displays, consumer technologies and demos – all with very specific requirements. “With a total of 138 LED screens, 830 LAN points, 41 kilometers of cable and 12 000 meters of fibre involved in the project – the mall is certainly connected, and all the needs of these companies have been facilitated by Vodacom,” says White.
Vodacom World mall now includes dedicated experience rooms which allow customers to experience mobile-enabled technologies offering IoT products, gaming demos, coding workshops, and more. The venue also offers visitors the ability to rent connection labs and workspaces which offer high-speed connectivity and digitally-enabled environments.
The mall will cater for all age groups and will offer coding lessons for children in addition to dedicated areas for gaming, virtual reality experiences, and product showcases. A coffee shop is also situated within the venue, catering to both visitors and employees.
“Vodacom has always been at the forefront from a technology and digital space perspective. We believe in Vodacom’s vision and we’re proud of the work we’ve done to bring it to life,” says White. We formed a strong partnership with this supportive client which enabled us to address challenges as they arose, and we’d like to congratulate everyone involved.”
Vodacom Managing Executive for Retail Operations, Samantha Botha, says, “I was here when the original Vodaworld launched and it’s so amazing to be part of something where you see it twice in two completely different ways. We wanted it to be perfect and we’re a little bit OCD. This has resulted in the teams working on this project delivering something quite beautiful.
Not only do we want to bring the products and services to life and have the best new technologies, we really concentrated on our staff service in this environment and we wanted a full digital environment for our digital ninjas to be able to really humanize technology for our customers.”
Profica’s expertise and track record in Health and Safety also paid dividends and the project underwent 720 health and safety formal inspections. “The project was awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Health and Safety in built environments by the Black Business Council. Vodaphone also awarded the project a Gold Ticket for Health & Safety.
Godfrey Ajusi, senior project manager Profica, says, “It’s truly amazing seeing it all come together after fun and challenging times. I think everyone who took part in this project can be very proud and I hope Vodacom World visitors really enjoy their experience at this amazing mall.”