05/10/2026
It is incredible to be a part of the developing smart-city precinct in northern Mauritius. Our proposal for Media City Mauritius addresses the complex challenge of merging high-security media infrastructure with an open, active civic realm. Driven by strict technical, spatial, and acoustic requirements rather than a conventional brief, the project divides its extensive program across two connected volumes organised around a shared central courtyard.
The spatial organisation relies on a strategy of layered security zoning to resolve the friction between public engagement and broadcast operations. Building A serves as the secure operational core, housing studios, newsrooms, control rooms, and production facilities alongside an integrated academy and creative office spaces. Its structurally independent data centre sits on the eastern edge, supported by dedicated cooling, generators, and a seven-day fuel reserve to ensure continuous operation. Across the courtyard, Building B forms the public-facing anchor of the campus, featuring “Media City Walk,” arcaded retail, upper-level offices, a rooftop venue, and a flexible, 1,000 square metre column-free black-box arena designed for live events and public launches.
Rather than adhering strictly to development controls that called for a continuous three-storey street edge, the massing deliberately steps back from the property boundaries. This creates planted buffers, stepped terraces, and open plazas that soften the transition between high-volume technical facilities and the surrounding urban fabric. The design was featured on Mauritian news, presenting the spatial strategy and master plan captured in this animation sequence.
Well done to our team on this project: Joh, May, Rachel and Brett and Nhlanzeko for putting this 3D visualisation together.
