Sammy Marks Building

Even though it was originally owned by Sammy Marks, a prominent mining magnate of the time and an immigrant from Lithuania, this shopping complex was first named the "Gundelfinger Building" after one of the tenants and is situated in the Pretoria CBD. It was designed by Wilhelm de Zwaan in the Neo-Holland/Flemish Renaissance Revival style. Internally it has very thick walls; this helped save the building when a fire broke out in 1970 and the upper storeys could not be used until it was restored. The building consists of three-storey brickwork cells and testifies of excellent workmanship.

Architect:
Wilhelm Johannes de Zwaan
Born in Amsterdam, Wilhelm Johannes de Zwaan came to South Africa in 1889. He designed two of the buildings surrounding Church Square (only the Netherlands Bank building remains), numerous houses in Waterkloof and contributed to Pretoria’s regional architecture of the early 1900s.

Sources:
FISHER, R.C. 1998. The Third Vernacular. In Architecture of the Transvaal. Edited by R.C. Fisher and S. le Roux, with E. Maré. Pretoria: the University of Pretoria. p.122-147.
Excerpts from a tape-recorded talk on Old Pretoria. Charles J. Beanes. Transcribed by T. E. Andrews. In Pretoriana, No 064, Dec 1970 (Viewed on repository.up.ac.za accessed 21 January 2014).
artefacts.co.za/building (accessed 21 January 2014).
artefacts.co.za/architect (accessed 21 January 2014).
wiki.up.ac.za (accessed 23 January 2014).