Created to embody a community market experience, The Barn on The Square (The Barn) includes an eclectic selection of artisanal homeware, art, beauty, fashion, food and beverage outlets, alongside quality restaurants and niche concept eateries all housed in an iconic barn-shaped structure.
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The Barn is the spatial heart and a core component of the new Westown Square high-street retail experience in Westown, Shongweni, and the first development activity within the 100ha Westown mixed-use property development.
Opening on 27 March, 2025, The Barn is expected to become one of the region’s most popular destinations for locals and tourists alike, offering a permanent niche retail space for local artisanal traders. This authentic retail offering reflects the high-street design approach that makes Westown unique.
“The Barn connects seamlessly with our differentiating tenant mix that includes a host of retail fashion tenants and hand-picked restauranteurs. Together this creates a first-of-its-kind retail shopping environment and a world-class shopping experience that will set the pace of retail shopping for South Africa,“ shares Lana Pattison divisional director of retail leasing for Westown developers, Fundamentum Property Group.
Multiple levels
Centrally located within Westown Square The Barn adjoins the Town Square piazza and Town Gardens, with its tall barn-shaped structure juxtaposed to the aesthetic of the surrounding retail development and immediately distinguishable as something unique. Spread over multiple levels, lifts, stairs and pedestrian bridges ensure the flow of shoppers through this unique space with several entrances connecting it with Westown Square.
This high-volume space is designed with a flexible facade which means The Barn can open up, linking the interior and exterior and creating a seamless flow between the activities within and the shared public space of the piazza and gardens outside. This encourages people to meander through and explore this unique space while staying connected to the retail offering of Westown Square.
A multi-purpose space
In an era with an ever-growing culture of online shopping and social media marketing, The Barn establishes itself as a shared space for community connection and enjoyment. Its destination-based tenant mix has been specifically curated to create a vibrant energy and social gathering place, and the open-plan multi-level space allows visibility across all four trading levels from almost any point.
The upper level of The Barn will feature owner-operated restaurants complemented by a craft brewery creating the perfect space for shoppers to linger in. While each of these quality spaces is designed to give patrons a sit-down artisanal restaurant experience, their location around the central atrium on the upper level will allow the ambience to flow throughout. The lower level is home to The Market which boasts a central dining atrium, an event space, niche retail offerings and an artisanal Food Market.
“We have designed this space and The Barn as a whole, around the experiential concept of meandering through a traditional high street market, where shoppers can explore the offerings along the streets, grab something fresh to eat from a local vendor or sit and enjoy a coffee or drink while watching local musicians perform in the atrium,” says architect Patrick Surmon of Sculpt Spaces.
For more information visit www.westown.co.za
For leasing enquiries at The Barn & Westown Square, contact Lana 083 511 4433.
