Kribo Trading | A wellness haven in the heart of Melville

Introducing vital new energy to the Western fringe of Melville, Kribo Trading is a wellness haven situated along 4th Avenue between 3rd Street and Main Road. 

 

This one-stop oasis is designed to cater for a wide range of everyday needs and desires, from working, to eating, training, chilling, healthcare and self-improvement – even sleeping and dreaming. It incorporates a co-working and event space with a lively café; a Pilates studio and gym (with a chiropractor, a physiotherapist, an osteopath, and massage therapists); a dentistry and orthodontics practice; a skin rejuvenation and aesthetics clinic; a reflexologist; medical doctors and a chic architect-designed motel. 

 

This innovative new neighbourhood haven has been designed to please people who live and work in Melville, complementing existing businesses, and adding to the diverse range of services already on offer in the immediate area. Travellers and visitors are more than welcome too! 

 

The precinct is optimally located within walking distance of a tattoo parlour, a shoe doctor, a karate dojo, a supermarket, and a gorgeous half-Olympic sized swimming pool, not to mention Koljander, the oldest home-industry outlet in the country! All just down the road from the restaurants and bars of legendary 7th Street, the only street in South Africa with a TV sit-com named after it. 

 

In 2013, no less than 25 beautiful stinkwood trees were planted along 4th Avenue to create a pleasant walking experience for pedestrians on route to Melville Boulevard or 7th Street. Adding to this local greening initiative, the precinct thrives on green principles, maximising the calming energy of plants, gardens and trees. That’s why we like to think of it as ‘the free constituency of chi’. It’s a community enterprise maximising good karma in the ‘hood.  

 

Two giant palm trees and an illuminated spire/totem pole mark the entrance to this low-key urban oasis, which features a building that was once an Anglican church, dating back to the 1930s. Preserving and enhancing the heritage of the neighbourhood, the old church building was thoughtfully reinvented by GASS Architecture Studios, who have a flair for sculpting spaces on a human scale and incorporating sustainable environmental practices into all their designs.

 

Meanwhile, the gym and consulting rooms and Chiesa Cantina were designed by acclaimed architects OMM Design Workshop. Best known for designing South Africa’s Constitutional Court Building (with Urban Solutions), they were also responsible for the chic no-fuss design of motel Mi Pi CHi.

 

There is an easy flow between the various outlets in the precinct. Expect open-hearted, open-minded spaces that invite flow and freedom of movement. Raw bricks, weathered wood and industrial-feel steel pergolas are interwoven with gardens, planter boxes, fruit walls and verdant green pathways. Thanks to input from GREENinc Landscape Architecture + Urbanism, 40 pomegranate trees were planted in the courtyards and car park. Never under-estimate the sublime, stress-lowering effects of ample, free parking on site…