At any given workday hour, the road is slowed with the delivery vehicles, bakkies and heavy trucks headed to the sprawl of automotive businesses, paint factories, building supply stores and sanitary ware shops that define the Southern Industrial Area.
Pedestrians cross the street at their own peril. The cabs that trundle down the motorway pick up passengers anywhere that lends itself to a middle finger and the various off-white warehouse-style buildings suggest functionality rather than creativity.
That doesn’t mean the creatives aren’t coming.
At Lazarette Square they’ve arrived with bells on.
After the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered a slew of businesses in the area, buildings that were once home to an aquatic shop and a car battery outfit have been transformed into a barber shop, Kissing Cousins Tattoo Parlour, an independent art gallery and a handcrafted leather goods store.
On the corner of Julius K Nyerere and Faraday streets, Jaybird & Blade is in the business of cuts, shaves and coffee.
On a Saturday afternoon, its dark interior is illuminated with hanging bulbs and half globe lamps casting a glow over an offbeat collection of curiosities as Wu-Tang Clan buzzes in the background.
The aesthetic is alternative. The barbers, a friendly cohort of the pierced and the tattooed who offer an hour cut and a welcome drink.
Owner Ollie Reissner says the drink, the collector and vintage vibe as well as the music calibration are all to set clients at ease because Jaybird & Blade, which moved into the area from a smaller situation in Klein Windhoek in May, is more than just a barber shop.
“The idea when I opened this place was to create a space of networking, community and of trust that had all the traditional aspects of barbering,” says Reissner.
“Everybody gets an hour cut. Everybody gets enough time to wind down and enough time for the barbers to do their job properly. That’s why you get a beer and Jägermeister is on board,” Reissner says.
“Obviously, the longer you come, you go from client to patron to friend and that’s what we’ve seen here.”
The new Jaybird & Blade is around the corner from the new The Project Room, which is still dealing with some minor issues of a change in location.
“We still get people looking for Taurus Batteries so we direct them to where it was,” says owner Frieda Lühl.
The Project Room moved from Jenner Street in Windhoek West to Julius K Nyerere Street in July this year.
“I like that southern industrial is so central, that totally enhanced the clientele of The Project Room. So many young people come and say this is wonderful, it’s so accessible,” says Lühl.
“We’re down the street from the older creative hub, which is Grüner Kranz. The Namibian Arts Association used to be there too. There’s also the Namibia Book Market, StArt Art Gallery used to be there. The Wolfshack is there and they give platforms for musicians and host karaoke nights. So there’s a lot of creativity going on around here.”
Lühl made the move to lean into the need for some expansion and to separate her personal space from her professional one.
“The rent is good too. For a gallery, you always use a lot of square metres and selling art is not so easy,” says Lühl, whose space accommodates a crop of exciting new and veteran artists while also hosting LGBTQIA+ film screenings, creative workshops and artist-led walkabouts.
“Because it was meant to be a coffee roastery, it came painted black and we’re kind of into it. It’s sort of our signature now and we really like how it works with so many exhibitions.”
A little further down the way, one can follow the yellow brick road to Leon Engelbrecht Design (LED), where the eponymous owner presides over a gorgeous handcrafted leather goods showroom, store and manufacturing space.
LED moved operations from their shop at Maerua Mall to Lazarette Square on Julius K Nyerere Street in January.
“First and foremost what this space offers me is the possibility to grow the manufacturing side,” says Engelbrecht over the bang of rivets being hammered onto a tote bag.
“People can really get an instant appreciation for what they’re buying,” says Engelbrecht, whose sought-after bags, bowties and fine leather pieces are showcased astride his newest venture into textiles.
“I feel that my creativity can blossom here. I am already taking on bigger projects that I couldn’t in the mall and I’m also attracting different people that we can collab with,” he says.
Cool.
Perhaps that’s the word.
As a crop of older millennials and innovative entrepreneurs make their way to the Southern Industrial Area, it is getting cooler. And not only at Lazarette Square, but also on Bell Street, where Bellhaus Atelier & Galerie and The Forge are the creative new neighbours.
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