Contents of October 2007

COMMENT
Inform and inspire

LETTERS
The state of sustainable development in South Africa

UPFRONT
News and events

CITY VISIT
Bekkersdal: development drags its feet

ILASA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE 2007
Exemplary landscape design

WASTE AND POLLUTION MANAGEMENT  
Seven years to sort out Kynoch's outfall in Milnerton

PLANNING PERSONALITY
Dan Smit, a champion of sustainable human settlement

BATTLE OF THE ’BURBS
University campuses: Rhodes v NMMU

INSPIRATION
Development needn't trample trees

INSULT
The demise of Donkin Street

TREE OF THE ISSUE
Faidherbia albida

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COMMENT

From readers to collaborators: the power of a proper plan
The Urban Green File team is thrilled to present exclusive coverage of the ILASA Awards of Excellence (see pages 14 to 33) in this edition. The inspiring submissions are not only innovative in nature, but also provide solutions over a wide range of applications – from a boutique hotel, which is probably only accessible to the very wealthy, to a township park and train station. Heritage sites are also featured in addition to ordinary towns and office buildings.

Howell Baum once said the pragmatic test of a plan is whether or not it can convert readers into collaborators.

Although Urban Green File only features extracts from submissions to ILASA and the original plans, we have endeavoured to provide readers with a glimpse of the level of inspiration that could be generated through a well-prepared plan.

I certainly believe that the recipients deserve the awards.

For one, I believe I have been converted into a collaborator on more than one occasion. Congratulations to all!

This edition’s ‘battle of the ‘burbs’ is also inspirational.

Urban Green File visited two university campuses where sustainable landscaping and management practices have been implemented for many years and present-day students are enjoying the benefits on a daily basis (see page 42).

Intervention needed
On page 38, Dan Smit argues that there is a need for urban practitioners to intervene without really getting into any serious social engineering. In Bekkersdal, intervention is happening at an alarmingly slow pace (see page 8). - Engela Meyer

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LETTERS

Sustain a let down?
Sustainable development will only be realised when we ask (and answer) the right questions.
– Louw van Biljon, SPATIUM Environmental Planning, Design & Management
I have just returned from the SUSTAIN exhibition, hosted in Sandton from August 15 to 17 2007, a VERY disappointed man. I expected loads of alternative technologies on show but alas! Of the roughly 85 stands, about half were solely devoted to water management, measurement and pumping, among others: all conventional technologies. The mining sector was over-represented.

Why? Is there not an existing exhibition catering solely for the mining industry?

I did not find one stand on eco-sanitation, rainwater harvesting, stormwater management products or greywater filtration. No stands either on PV panels, solarthermal water heating and micro-hydro generation. Only one on wind generation, methinks. No stand on alternative building practices (passive architecture), techniques or products.

I will, unfortunately, not attend the next exhibition unless it changes into a really sustainable exhibition.

– While Urban Green File shares the view that SUSTAIN 2007 did not present a sufficiently comprehensive overview of new technologies in the field of sustainable development, we do believe that the show was a good start towards establishing a platform for the sharing of know-how on best practices in sustainable development. It could probably be argued that the criticism should not necessarily only be targeted at the exhibition itself but perhaps at South African industry in general. One often gets the impression that most South African businesses have not yet begun to exploit the concept of sustainability as a business tool. Sustainability is not only about environmental and social responsibility but also about plain business logic – using resources more efficiently to produce at lower cost or higher profit (responsible profit, that is). It also seems that most companies in the fields of solar energy, greywater re-use or bio-filtration, for example, are more interested in the science of it rather than building a successful business out of the concept. It is surprising that these companies do not market themselves better by, for one, exhibiting at organised events.

Clearly there is demand for these sorts of solutions as indicated in Louw van Biljon’s letter.

While Urban Green File hopes that more technologies, such as solar-thermal water heating and alternative building practices, will be on show in 2009, it must also be stated that the mining and water industries probably have the greatest potential to enhance sustainability in South Africa. Sustainable development is not only about energy-efficient housing and buildings but also about using resources more wisely in all industries. In the case of the mining and water industries, major efficiency improvements could benefit the entire country.

Perhaps some of the blame should be apportioned to exhibitors who probably do have sustainable solutions in their product and service offerings but have made no effort to display them. A prominent municipal water services organisation only displayed its corporate logos with no examples of how it goes about using water or energy more efficiently.

It is Urban Green File’s opinion that a show such as SUSTAIN deserves recognition for its potential and for the important role it can play in educating South African business about sustainability. It certainly needs to grow and present a more comprehensive overview in 2009 if it wants to attract more visitors and exhibitors – that is what sustainability is about: building something that will be successful over the long term.

Incidentally, Brooke Pattrick Publications – the publisher of Urban Green File – has also produced a new yearbook that coincided with the SUSTAIN exhibition. The Sustain 2008

Yearbook focuses on sustainability across a spectrum of industries, including building, construction, architecture, urban planning, facilities management, energy, water and mining. To purchase a copy, contact subs@brookepattrick.co.za.

The SUSTAIN exhibition is organised by Exhibitions for Africa. The opinions expressed here are the independent views of Urban Green File.
– Gerald Garner, publishing director, Urban Green File

Where are the experts?
– Marie Ashpole, outreach officer, the South African Institution of Civil Engineering
After more than 30 years of ‘mainstreaming’ the concept of sustainability, it has actually become a buzz word: ubiquitous and often unclear, typically used to impress an audience with the pretence of knowledge. We need to achieve a practical understanding. SUSTAIN has the potential to enhance this understanding.

I’ve read the following about the City of Jo’burg’s planning department in your fortnightly e-mail bulletin: “The department also plans to approve applications for rezoning and for establishing a township within six months.

Previously, it would take a year to approve rezonings and township establishments”.

This is indeed good news! My concern is the following: Where will these experts who “will be deployed in the new building at the submission stage to advise applicants” come from? It has taken my husband approximately three years to get to the final approval stage to establish a ‘new township’ in Midrand – sent from pillar to post and not given full details on what is actually needed, which resulted in unnecessary trips and paperwork, among others, and having to wait for months “because the only person who could sign the forms was on leave”. There also seemed to be unwillingness or insecurity with regard to decision-making at various levels. I used to criticise developers who just went ahead with a development without the necessary paperwork. Now I actually understand why they do this – they have millions of rand at stake. For orderly growth and development, these people should be assisted and not hampered in their efforts.

The process should also be streamlined with regard to the various infrastructure elements (electricity and roads, among others in a central section) like a one-stop shop where all development issues could be resolved. This will go a long way towards alleviating friction between developers/project managers and officials.

Being a very positive South African, I do hope that I could be given an answer to my question.

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UPFRONT

Sustainability benchmark
The inaugural Sustain exhibition was held at the Sandton Convention Centre from August 15 to 17 2007.

The organisers aimed to present amsingle, integrated event for the South

African business community to come together and share their views on sustainability.

In the true spirit of sustainability, the event did not take place in isolation – debate will continue until everyone meets again in two years’ time.

One of the mechanisms to continue the discussion is Sustain 2008: a collection of articles showcasing the successful implementation of sustainable development principles in business.

Based on articles published during 2006 and 2007 in various subscription-based publications produced by the Brooke Pattrick Publications stable, the collection provides readers with examples of innovation at project level and promises to serve as a source of business intelligence on sustainability in industry. It reviews more than 40 projects with sustainability top of mind.

Sustain 2008 is a 108-page publication available from Brooke Pattrick Publications at a cost of R150 (VAT and postage included).

Village connection
Near the village of Hillcrest outside Durban, Le Domaine comprises a series of villages interlinked by landscaping – a 2,8 km water wonderland, public green spaces and natural wetlands.

According to landscape architect Lucas Uys, this community-type residential development is epitomized by “experiencing the open spaces and the quality of the planting, which is 80% indigenous”.

The development was built on former cane fields, which provided rich topsoil carefully collected during construction and reintroduced to the site for planting.

The watercourse made up of a series of ponds – each with its own planting character – are dotted throughout the development and are integrated but do not impact on the 4 000 m²natural wetland and reed bed, which have been rehabilitated.

New garden
South Africa’s ninth national botanical garden has been officially unveiled in the Northern Cape.

The new Nieuwoudtville National Botanical Garden will be opened to the public in January 2008. The new garden comprises more than 6 300 ha of land on the Bokkeveld Plateau, which is world-renowned for its incredible diversity of bulbous plants. Some 40% of the flora comprises bulbs that create spectacular displays in autumn and spring every year. The garden also comprises large natural patches of renosterveld fynbos and succulent karoo vegetation.

Station revamp
Plans for the redevelopment of the Cape Town Station Precinct include some exciting concepts and a board decision on the conceptual plans is anticipated by the last quarter of 2007. The immediate aim is to give the station a facelift in preparation for the World Cup. To this end, the Department of Transport has set aside R95-million. It will form part of a long-term development plan to transform the entire area into an effective transport hub at an expected cost of many billions of rand. The long-term development plan proposes that the station precinct dovetails with other developments in the Cape Town CBD and ‘brings the city back to the station’. Part of the challenge is to shake off the station’s apartheid legacy by integrating the three concourses originally designed to fit the apartheid social model of racial division. David Chandler of Common Ground, the firm of consultants on this project, tells Urban Green File that a draft development framework for the precinct is expected in 2008 to guide interventions for post-2010.

Island life
The construction of a new island – Île Aurore Nouvelle (French for ‘dawn of new island’) – from several reclaimed islands adjacent to Mahé in the Seychelles is set to begin in January 2008. The R9,2-billion project is expected to take 4,5 years to complete. Mahé, the main island, is approximately 60 ha. Another 60 ha will be reclaimed from the sea, in the form of sand and rock, to create the adjoining island, which will be connected to Mahé via a causeway. Golf carts will be the only transport allowed on the new resort.

Pinnacle Point Holdings intends employing Seychellois wherever possible as well as a co-ordinated workforce from South Africa and elsewhere.

Modern heritage
The Sandton Central Management District has launched a project to record and exhibit the district’s history. As part of the Sandton Central Heritage Project, local and past residents, employees and visitors to Sandton Central and its surrounds are encouraged to share their family albums reflecting the history of Sandton Central.

At a time when Sandton Central is on the brink of huge development, the aim of the project is to reflect on its origins by unearthing its past, exposing interesting aspects of its heritage and ensuring that proper records are kept for public access.

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CITY VISIT

A Bekkersdal marathon
The much-publicised and often-criticised Bekkersdal urban renewal project is extending its time frame. Why?

If you know your Herman Charles Bosman, you might remember a charming story he told about an eight-hour, hymn-singing marathon in the local Bekkersdal church. In recent years, Bekkersdal receives sporadic news coverage for a different kind of marathon.

In his 2003 State of the Nation address, President Thabo Mbeki said: “Having listened to the people of Bekkersdal during the presidential imbizo in Gauteng, national government will work with the province and local government to introduce public works programmes in this area. We shall find safe and secure land for settlement and upgrade community infrastructure to improve social services and provide some employment”.

The Bekkersdal Urban Renewal Project was subsequently launched with an initial business plan dated March 2003 – a total project programme of five to seven years. What really made headlines was the budget for the project at about R1,2-billion (an average of R246-million per year). To spend this kind of money on a community of less than 20 000 people (estimates differ), guaranteed political (and media) attention.

Bekkersdal is located on the ‘West Rand’ of Gauteng within the jurisdiction of the Westonaria Local Municipality. It used to be a mining township and, as was the trend in years gone by, it did not really form part of an existing town. As the mines in the area closed down, unemployment grew and more people moved into existing townships. Not only were backyard shacks erected in Bekkersdal proper but an entirely new informal township was established towards the west of the existing township.

Some estimates indicate that the informal part of Bekkersdal is home to about 14 500 people. This is problematic as the dolomitic ground conditions make the informal area unsafe for residential use.

According to Gauteng Department of Housing project manager Tsepiso Moloi, the core objectives of the Bekkersdal Urban Renewal Project are to address the plight of Bekkersdal residents located on high-risk and dolomitic land through a relocation plan. Those affected include communities residing in informal settlements, backyard shacks and hostel residents.

Nico Venter, programme manager for the Powerhouse consortium working on the project, agrees with Moloi that an overriding aspect of the project includes the identification of land to be used for the relocation of residents of the informal settlement. The aim is to eventually move these people to a new place of residence.

Another significant part of the project is the upgrading and improvement of general living conditions in the existing Bekkersdal township. To this end, projects include the upgrading of taxi ranks, partial streetscaping, park development, construction of clinics and a multi-purpose community centre, as well as the establishment of industry and training facilities to boost the local economic development of Bekkersdal.

However, in the meantime, the informal settlement, although located on dolomitic land, could not be left as it was. Provision of basic services, such as toilets and standpipes, high-mast lighting and stormwater management were some of the crucial projects that had to be addressed.

Although initial planning by the Department of Housing allowed for the project to be extended if necessary, it is a concern that, in the fifth year of the project, the real urban renewal (which, according to project role players, is the establishment of a new township) has not even begun. What caused the delays? Could this have been prevented?

Project progress
The upgrade and improvement of living conditions through smaller projects.

Transit camp
Residents had to be evacuated from certain areas in the informal part of Bekkersdal to make way for roads to be used by emergency vehicles, and for stormwater and other disaster management measures.

Information hub
The information hub has been converted into a multipurpose community center to accommodate not only the project but also developmental organisations that provide services to the Bekkersdal community.

Local business support centre
The completion of the local business support center is imminent. This development will form a crucial part of future plans as it will support local economic development initiatives, specifically training of construction workers.

Industrial development
As part of the drive for local economic development, land has been earmarked for light-industrial activity. Brickmaking will form an essential part of the activities.

Hostel
The original mine hostels house about 334 people, who will be relocated to an alternative safe site, as the existing site is underlain by dolomite.

Clinics (P8 and P19)
Two new clinics are planned. The East Clinic (pictured in the background) was completed in early 2007. Problems with local contractors delayed the construction of the West Clinic but completion was imminent at the time of writing.

Fixing Bekkersdal
While relocation plans are being finalised, the urban renewal project has focused on the upgrading of infrastructure in the formal and informal parts of Bekkersdal.

Park development
Four parks located in the formal part of Bekkersdal have been upgraded and are being used by the local community.

Delays and difficulties
Bekkersdal is not ‘urban renewal’ in its traditional sense. It is not an inner-city area that was once successful and is now being revitalised. Bekkersdal is urban renewal in the South African vernacular.

According to project documentation, urban renewal in South Africa entails the development of sustainable human settlements and restructuring of the urban form. As the development of the ‘new town’ has not yet begun, it could be argued that real urban renewal has yet to begin.

Nevertheless the label ‘urban renewal project’ could be somewhat confusing as Bekkersdal does not form part of the seven, official presidential, urban-renewal projects. Although mentioned by the state president, it does not fit into a distinct mould or specific development agency.

The Bekkersdal urban renewal project is ambitious. It is, therefore, not surprising that project planners and managers faced challenges along the way.

Responsibility and accountability
A very serious challenge to the success of a project of this nature are the issues of responsibility and accountability. Promises were made at a very high political level (in this case, by the state president) and delivery was entrusted to a provincial entity (Gauteng Department of Housing) while future day-to-day management will be the responsibility of local municipalities (Westonaria and, to a lesser extent, West Rand District Municipality). To co-ordinate and get buy-in from all these entities, as well as residents (arguably the most important entity), was challenging. It might be a case of too many cooks potentially spoiling the broth.

Issues of jurisdiction went further. The project is entrusted to the Department of Housing with its core business the provision of houses. In the end, a large component of the Bekkersdal urbanrenewal project is focused on relocation, infrastructure provision and settlement upgrade. It has not helped that the project has suffered a very high turnover of project managers. The existing project manager has only been involved since the beginning of 2007.

As with many development projects, finance was also problematic. Although the initial budget made provision for large sums of money, the project team was crippled by the release of far less money during each of the financial years.

A new town
Identification of suitable land to house displaced Bekkersdal residents took much longer than anticipated. The Department of Housing, the West Rand District Municipality and Randfontein Local Council have identified suitable land in Westonaria South and Droogeheuwel/Middelvlei for the relocation of Bekkersdal’s informal residents. It is a point of concern as real planning for this new development had to be delayed until the issues were finalised. However the plan is that, while the development of the new town or towns is under way, the latest Breaking New Ground principles should guide development. For instance, housing typology will have to be varied in order to meet demand for housing in the area and reflect the profile of the intended beneficiaries. According to Moloi, the authorities envisaged a development similar to Cosmo City in Johannesburg.

The last crucial question: Is the taxpayers’ money well-spent? From a purely theoretical perspective, probably not as the locality of Bekkersdal is in no way ideal. But, with our apartheid legacy, this cannot always be rectified as people have been living in the area for many years. To uproot them unnecessarily reeks too much of an approach that would have been adopted in a former era. Beyond the theoretical perspective on Bekkersdal’s locality, it is a concern that it took various government institutions five years to identify a suitable place for relocation.

While projects at local level have been progressing, it is probably a lack of intergovernmental co-operation that has delayed the major part of the Bekkersdal urban renewal project. It is difficult to put a price tag on this.

Progress in the renewal of Bekkersdal has been slow but somehow consistent. Hopefully the identification of land for relocation will speed up the process so that the 2010 target will be met.

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ILASA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE 2007

Landscape heritage conserved
A conservation plan for the Mount Pleasant terraces in the Western Cape is ground-breaking in terms of landscape heritage conservation.

New World Associates was approached by Table Mountain National Park to prepare a heritage conservation plan for Mount Pleasant Terraces. The terraces are quite small in extent (about 1,5 ha) and not highly visible but there is nothing similar – not only in the Western Cape but, probably, throughout Africa. This is the only stone-terraced vineyard known. It compares with the extensive terraces of Ziwa built for cattle and millet farming over five centuries ago in eastern Zimbabwe. At the time of writing, the terraces would be used as a medicinal (muti) garden by growing forest species found in the Newlands Forest on Devil’s Peak, which is under pressure from traditional healers who harvest the bark of trees and shrubs.

New World Associates was appointed to prepare a conservation plan for this site registered in the National Heritage Register. The brief was specific as outlined in Table Mountain’s own heritage resources management plan. Four main aspects were addressed:
1. understanding the resource;
2. assessing significance;
3. assessing vulnerability and defining issues; and
4. broad heritage policy and recommendations for management.

New World Associates had to also prepare a baseline study of the heritage statement.

In this case, there was no team other than previous reporters and researchers who had made numerous and repeated references to the importance of the scheme in many different studies prepared for Groote Schuur Estate and Table Mountain National Park.

New World Associates delivered the report in December 2005 – about four months after it had been appointed.

Standing in the thick, deep kikuyu on terraces fallow since 1994, a decade of rest was declared for these productive terraces that had fed prime ministers and presidents resident at Groote Schuur for a century from the time of Cecil John Rhodes.

Nevertheless the terraces have long been ignored and perhaps they still are.

As the report states, there is a lot of documentary evidence about the terraces dating back to the famous Cape surveyor and architect, Louis Michel Thibault of France and, even earlier, to some of the earliest maps of the Cape Peninsula.

From the 1790s, if not earlier, there was some sort of farming on Mount Pleasant or Mont Plaisant as it was also known.

The Mount Pleasant Terraces are arguably South Africa’s oldest intact, extant cultural landscape feature in stone. Except for the original plants and werf buildings, the terraces remain as they were when they were originally constructed except where wild fig trees are damaging them.

Adjudicators’ comments
The landscape architect must be commended on a good and interesting read, enthusiastically undertaken, which in essence answered the client’s brief.

Interactive public space
Tree planting, street furniture and public art helped create better-quality public space for a previously-disadvantaged community.

The development and upgrade of a major public-transport interchange on both sides of the railway line in the town centre of Mitchell’s Plain, Cape Town, began in 2002. The original completion date for the overall project was 2006 but now completion is planned for 2008.

The purpose of this project was to improve the public-transport facilities used daily by 70 000 commuters from the local community who do not have their own transport and, therefore, rely entirely on the public-transport system.

It also aimed to upgrade the urban environment by creating a sense of place, and a safer living and shopping experience.

In the past, commuters, pedestrians, traders, hawkers and shoppers either waited, transferred, boarded or traded in an environment that was either unsheltered, unprotected, unlit, inaccessible, unsafe or unsightly.

The landscape architect, Clare Burgess, worked closely with the urban designers and architects on the development of the public places and trading areas to ensure integration between the new buildings and infrastructural elements, and with the civil, transport and structural engineers on the tree-planting programme and the street-furniture components.

A landscape master plan was drawn up to identify how a tree-planting programme, a specially-designed range of street furniture and public-art elements, could be incorporated into roads, pedestrian malls, and parking and terminal areas, to improve the urban environment and provide shade and shelter from inclement weather.

Trees for Africa
Three main types of tree planting were proposed and all planting was provided with automatically-operated, underground, drip-irrigation systems and a tree hole with a stone-chip mulch layer to protect the soil and irrigation rings.

The only exception to this was that, for infill tree planting in the town centre, irrigation lines could not be installed under existing paving without undue cost implications. In these areas, ‘dry water gel’ and a fertilisation programme to the drip line of the existing trees has been installed along with a tree-root protection zone and street furniture.

Due to the harsh climate and poor soil conditions, only extremely hardy, wind-resistant trees were chosen that already proved they could grow well in Mitchell’s Plain.

Street furniture and paving
A simple but effective paving pattern was introduced. It picked up on the design elements of red brick and grey steel in the buildings. The bands highlight the vertical elements of the landscape design trees, tree guards, fibreglass street lights, litter bins and benches. The paving pattern also highlights the spaces to be used by informal traders, thereby avoiding the need to paint lines on the paving surface to designate a bay for hire.

A specific range of street furniture for the Mitchell’s Plain town centre was designed by the landscape architects in consultation with the architects and urban designers.

Public artwork
The client specifically requested the inclusion of public artwork in the project.

The landscape architect was responsible for overseeing the installation of various pieces of art. A community-based artist was appointed to organise and develop the artwork components of the project and the final installations were the result of a competition at Mitchell’s Plain primary schools. The children had to submit drawings on the theme ‘Transport in the Future – 2020’. Winning designs were transformed into galvanised-steel artwork in the form of individual panels and sculptures for tree guards.

In addition, a large, interactive-play sculpture element was produced using concepts depicted in the competition; moving with the assistance of kinetic and wind energy. The work was carried out by local metal workers trained by consulting artist Odd Enjineers.

The public art has been placed in the centrally-located Rondo Square.

Adjudicators’ comments
The project highlights the important role of the landscape architect as facilitator. It is commended for the involvement of the local community and use of art in an otherwise heavily engineered townscape, particularly in the face of tough environmental and social conditions – not to mention bureaucratic hurdles. It succeeded in uplifting an otherwise mundane town centre through ‘greening’.

Cognisance of context
Koringberg Visual Impact Assessment New World Associates
Sometimes contextual issues have to take priority over other concerns.
Koringberg is a charming country hamlet in the heartland of the picturesque Swartland. A proposal has been drafted for a dense group housing development on Koringberg erven 16 to 19 – converting four consolidated erven to accommodate 38 units averaging 340 m². A preliminary investigation by Graham Jacobs, heritage planner who prepared the notification of intent to develop for Heritage Western Cape, the provincial body of the South African Heritage Resources Agency, called for a visual impact assessment. New World Associates was appointed to conduct a visual impact assessment. Most of the buildings around the erven are listed as heritage resources. The village itself is underdeveloped, giving it a definite openspace character with large gardens around the Edwardian period houses. Views to the north over the township and fields were expansive with opportunity to make a great impression. The setting is typically Swartland with rolling plains of golden wheat fields in high summer, interspersed with dull, grey hills of renosterbos and the archetypical Koringberg and Swartberg hills behind the town to the south. Analysis revealed that the project has a significant visual impact, particularly from the northern side and to its immediate neighbours. The proposal was considered an “uncontrolled development in sensitive areas” – the sort that threatens. Recommendations have been made to make the density and layout appropriate to the original pattern of the village, and to develop a variety of architectural types and layouts to ensure a non-uniform streetscape in keeping with the housing patterns already established. The client has since accepted the report and the recommendations are being implemented.

Benchmark office development
22 Fredman Drive Insite Landscape Architects
An office building with a roof garden, a central terrace garden and various water features promises a soothing working environment.

The newly-restored and refurbished office building on 22 Fredman Drive, Sandton, has undergone a substantial transformation to become a much stronger urban presence and character in the competitive Sandton cityscape.

Not only does the building combine state-of-the-art materials and innovative technologies, it also demonstrates a distinctive approach to the planning of environmentally-orientated space and structure.

With a new building footprint extended to the extreme edges of a particularly awkward site, there was limited external leftover area for landscaping and it became necessary to introduce alternative ways of greening the development.

Courtyard gardens and atrium planters, as well as an extensive roof garden, were introduced to counterbalance the hard proportions of the office building.

The extent of the work done by Insite Landscape Architects ranged from the design and detailing of the 670 m² roof garden atop the northern annex building to the plantscaping of two terraces/courtyards and the triple-volume atrium. Insite also detailed the grand cascading water feature at the main entrance to the building.

Through all the phases of project development, Zenprop (the developer) emphasised its search for “unique but elegant design”.

All water features had to operate on biofiltration systems so that water planting could be introduced.

Caravan park converted

A municipal caravan park has been transformed through community participation and skills transfer.

Adjudicators’ comments
The landscape architect played an important role as a facilitator. The use of public participation in the design and implementation, including the details, is commendable. In 2004, a design charette was organized by Conservation International (CI) for professionals from a wide range of fields and the Nieuwoudtville community to participate in a week-long workshop to identify priorities, do conceptual designs and costings that could be used to secure funding and projects for community upliftment.

In 2004, a design charette was organised by Conservation International (CI) for professionals from a wide range of fields and the Nieuwoudtville community to participate in a week-long workshop to identify priorities, do conceptual designs and costings that could be used to secure funding and projects for community upliftment. One of the potential sites identified for development was the existing municipal caravan park. At that point in time, a large portion of extremely rare and sensitive vegetation was bulldozed to create a day visitors’ area while a second area with perched wetlands on sandstone was decimated to construct chalets. Construction was stopped immediately and Earthworks Landscape Architects prepared a concept design, highlighting how existing disturbed areas could be used optimally by integrating uses and alternative construction methods. Three months later, Earthworks was officially appointed. Several consultations and presentations to the local community followed over a period of a year. It emerged that there was a great need for a swimming pool for the local community.

Once the sketch plans had been finalised, the bill of quantities was handed over to local-community representatives. They had to identify local people who could supply any of the materials on the bill. The locals provided all the stone, ‘latte’, beams and labour. The people were educated on how to treat the wood with eco-sensitive treatments and build stone walls.

Integration of elements
The swimming pool was designed to enable local children, who cannot swim, to explore the water safely. The pool slopes gently downwards, similar to a beach, so that children can slowly gain confidence.

Alternative methods for filtering the swimming pool water were sought and eventually an E-Clear process, that does not require chlorine or pool acid, was chosen.

The water for the swimming pool is supplied by a borehole and, if this pool water must be replaced, it can be pumped directly into the irrigation system to irrigate the landscape before the pool is filled again with fresh water.

Two bird hides were constructed among reeds along the shores of the municipal dam, making use of stone, poplar and blue-gum beams. A hiking trail takes the guest to communities of rare bulbs, restio forests and interesting rock formations, including glacial tracks. Camping sites were placed among the existing rocks and vegetation to provide a sense of seclusion and intimacy with the site yet avoiding sensitive areas.

The project was completed in 2005 after a 16-week contract period. The architect who designed the chalets, EcoDesign, received a Holcim award for ‘sustainable architecture’. Unfortunately the chalets were not built due to budget constraints.

Creating an identity
Pinnacle Point sculptures Insite Landscape Architects
A number of sculptures give Pinnacle Point Beach & Golf Resort its distinguished identity.

The water-feature and entrance-column sculptures at Pinnacle Point Beach & Golf Resort in Mossel Bay were designed by Insite Landscape Architects as part of the landscape installations. As it is one of numerous golf estates and resorts along the Garden Route, the client wanted the feature elements to distinguish Pinnacle

Point from the rest. Through a long process of concept design, Insite Landscape Architects came up with the idea to develop the Pinnacle Point logo into a stainless-steel, 3D representation that would become the centerpiece of the water feature. The concept behind the water feature was to create a visual and sound effect similar to tidal movement on a pebble-lined beach – a mass of foam flowing over and between various levels of pebble surfaces.

Enhanced tourist attraction
Pinnacle Point and Casino Lodges Insite Landscape Architects
Knowledge of various fynbos species proved essential in landscaping around the Casino Lodges.

The site of the Casino Lodges, part of Pinnacle Point Beach & Golf Resort off Mossel Bay along the Southern Cape coastline, includes a variety of fynbos species, as well as a large variety of bird and animal populations.

Some 120 luxury units were constructed around the refurbished Garden Route Casino & Hotel. This setting presented an opportunity for a world-class tourist attraction with spectacular views and breathtaking natural beauty.

The landscape areas included detail designed areas as well as large parts that had to be rehabilitated. The challenge for Insite Landscape Architects was to ensure that construction did not disturb much of the natural, established fynbos and wildlife, and to rehabilitate the disturbed areas to pre-development state.

The environmental management plan had a substantial influence on the implementation – for one, all plants used in the landscape had to be indigenous and endemic to the area, including lawn and veldgrass species.

There are three main soil-dependent plant zones on the Pinnacle Point Beach & Golf Resort site: limestone fynbos, proteoid fynbos and coastal thicket fynbos – the latter two occur in the Casino Lodges area. Before construction began, the landscape contractor collected all valuable plant species that could form part of the rehabilitation process at a later stage.

Only in-situ topsoil was used during the landscape implementation. This contributed, to a large extent, to the success of the rehabilitation process.

Formal meets informal
Paarman Manor Viridian Consulting Landscape Architects
A responsive balance between organic and formal elements.

Paarman Manor is located on a northfacing slope above Constantia Main Road in Cape Town. The 8 200 m² property was purchased with the intention to develop it as a residential property and a test kitchen for Paarman Foods.

The layout of the buildings and formal outdoor spaces were determined by the concept of structuring the site according to the traditional Cape Dutch werf. The slope required formal terraces to achieve the rectangular spaces. The buildings were placed around these spaces and the symmetry around the design axes was also reflected in the landscape design. The formality was not followed slavishly and the site characteristics of trees and existing building footprints moulded the strict symmetry possible on a level site.

Water features provide visual focus points and anchor the design.

Heritage meets environment
Leeupan Regional Park and Oliver Tambo Cultural Precinct Newtown Landscape Architects

Two projects have been combined to create an iconic heritage and environmentally-aware site on the East Rand.

Leeupan in Wattville, Benoni, is one of the last natural grassland areas in Ekurhuleni and it has been identified by the South African National Biodiversity Institute as an area that must be preserved and protected.

In 2005, the Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism and the Department of Arts & Culture in Ekurhuleni had decided to merge two projects into one large project. This new and rather unusual project had two different but equally important aims:
1. To rehabilitate the wetland and its environs at Leeupan and establish an environmental centre to promote environmental education and recreation opportunities for the surrounding communities.
2. To commemorate the life of Oliver Tambo by creating a cultural heritage precinct with a memorial at the existing cemetery set to be upgraded.

The project presented many physical and political constraints.

The 290 ha site is undermined, leaving only a small strip of land on the north-western edge suitable for building construction. There is a 42 m Rand Water servitude along the western boundary of the site that further restricted construction. Two informal settlements (in the process of relocation during the study) existed on the western side of the pan where the cultural precinct and environmental centre could be located because of the undermining and water servitude.

Green community amenity
The provision of a park can potentially enrich the lives of a once-disadvantaged community.

Main elements
The park was developed in two phases, over a period of two years, and completed in August 2006. The main elements of the park included a civic gathering space with seating walls, a concrete shade structure and a tarred parking lot, as well as an extensive lawned picnic area with ablution facilities; a mini soccer field; a large well-equipped play area; and two multi-purpose outdoor sports courts.

The infrastructure of the suburb has only been partly developed and, in the area immediately adjacent to the park, most of the formal roads have not yet been constructed. Residents around the park and taxi drivers, therefore, used the park as an access route and created dirt tracks that criss-crossed the park. On the southern side of the site, the taxi route crossed an informal soccer field. This was resolved by formalising the pedestrian walkways and kerbs were installed in places to limit vehicular access.

Site-specific challenges
Many local residents around the park had vegetable patches and fruit trees on the site. All these gardens had to be relocated to a new area set aside by the local councillor.

The residents had to be convinced not to use the park as a grazing area for cows and goats. The park was used as an illegal dumping ground and there were a few illegal structures encroaching on the site which were either demolished or accommodated elsewhere.

The topography of the site created some design challenges. Sub-surface drainage and raised pathways were designed to prevent flooding of the surrounding houses and the park as a result of the very high water table, poor drainage and topography.

Adjudicators’ comments
This is a positive response to the often difficult challenge of providing recreational facilities in a previously-disadvantaged area. The introduction of a memorial garden with decorative planting in an otherwise grass and rock landscape is commendable. The shadow sculpture and the scattered stone seating elements are intriguing details.

The development of a community park in Orange Farm forms part of the much-publicised Greening Soweto project initiated by Johannesburg City Parks. Green Inc was the principal agent on the project. A structural engineer and quantity surveyor were brought in to assist with the ablution facilities and shade structure.

The park definitely addresses a need in the community as residents had to travel more than 10 km to Soweto in order to reach the closest park. As the region lacks an adequate number of recreational facilities, the formalised soccer field, netball and basketball courts are being used by the local community as well as all the schools in the surrounding area. The enormous need for recreational facilities is illustrated by the fact that the playground, installed during the first phase of the development, had to be doubled in size to meet demand.

Hi-tech in the Bushveld
Science & Technology Head Office Green Inc in association with Erika van den Berg
A hi-tech building had to be integrated into a campus with bushveld vegetation.
Acustom-built facility has been constructed for the Department of Science & Technology on the CSIR campus in Pretoria. The campus is set on a ridge with dense indigenous vegetation and it is home to small antelope, dassie, tortoise and other wildlife. The brief presented to Green Inc was to design a landscape that would integrate with the rest of the campus.

The project was completed in October 2006 after about two years. The new building is a landmark visible on the N1 highway in the south-westernmost corner of the CSIR campus. The Highveld landscape enables the building to nestle into the hillside and become part of the campus, which, although perhaps not visited by many in the local community, contributes to the peri-urban, Bushveld feel of the area.

The building was placed to conserve an existing copse of indigenous trees. The broad concept was to have a relatively formal landscape at the entrance, on the parking lot side of the site, while the other side of the building, overlooked by the glazed atrium ’street‘, would have a naturalistic veldgrass landscape. There are lawn panels between the wings of the building on the parking lot side but, from the highway side, the hi-tech building seems to sit in the veld. A major feature of the building is a tall, glass curtain wall with a sun-control screen that cuts through the building at a slight diagonal, linking disparate wings of the building, forming a long atrium space that was dubbed the ’corporate street‘. The line of the glass wall and its screen was extended into the landscape by a stone-clad stormwater ’aqueduct‘, which reads as an extension of the water feature.

Stormwater from the parking lot accumulates in this aqueduct. It is then channeled to a stormwater-detention pond constructed at the bottom of the site.

Internally focused
Design Quarter Insite Landscape Architects
In a design district, the visitor must be engaged.
Design Quarter, a design precinct in Fourways, Johannesburg, is a retail development aimed at offering a creative space beyond the classical shopping experience – a one-stop design and décor destination for consumers.

As a precinct, the building’s design is largely internally focused so public areas are centralised with no activity edges facing the surrounding residential neighbours.

Shops and stores open out into a street-like galleria, which culminates in an atrium at one end and a public square or piazza at the other. The idea was that the landscaping of Design Quarter would be a feature in itself; telling the story of colour, shapes, forms and textures. The extent of Insite’s work ranged from the design and specification of planting, the detailing of the four water features and various custom-designed, pre-cast pots and planters.

Involved intervention
An extremely complex and involved project has a multitude of outcomes that need focused co-ordination and management.

As the name suggests, the Taung Skull Fossil Site derives the greater part of its significance from the partial skull and associated endocranial cast of a juvenile ‘ape man’ or Australopithecus africanus recovered from a cavity within a limestone tufa during commercial mining operations.

However the Taung Skull World Heritage Site includes much more than just the site where the skull was found. It has a fascinating geological and geomorphological history.

The Taung Skull Fossil Site is situated within the abandoned Buxton Limeworks. The limeworks is situated about 17 km west of the town of Taung, situated on the floor of the valley of the Harts River.

The town of Taung is about 100 km north of Kimberley. This project has, from the outset, been extremely complex in that it entailed a multitude of outcomes that needed focused co-ordination and management of human and natural resources. It required a very sensitive planning approach that had to integrate palaeontology, archaeological history and modern history without destroying the significance of the site. All this had to be captured in a manner that would grant the site World Heritage Site status.

Extensive scope
Bapela Cave Klapwijk was responsible for managing and guiding the process – from refining the brief with the client to ensuring that the deadlines for World Heritage Status nomination were met.

The first phase was called for and managed by the North West Province office of the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) and was funded by the Departments of Social Development: Arts & Culture; Agriculture; and Environmental Affairs & Tourism. Key outputs required to complete this work included a cultural heritage resources survey of the site; a conservation management plan for the Taung Skull National Heritage Site, including natural, cultural, infrastructure, visitor and other relevant issues; a monitoring and evaluation programme for the site; relevant stakeholder consultation; heritage agreements with land owners; a World Heritage Site nomination; and training and capacity building in terms of the various Acts.

The second phase of the project was managed by the Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Environment. Additional funding was sourced from the Department of Arts & Culture via the Greater Taung Local Municipality.

The outcomes had to include design guidelines (incorporating site analysis and guidelines for infrastructure, such as viewpoints, hiking trails and cycling routes); development and detail design of on-site interpretation (including layout, text and costing of signage and interpretive structures); submission of permit applications to SAHRA; construction drawings and tender process; construction and project management; as well as public and stakeholder participation.

Since declared a World Heritage Site, the site includes the full extent of the former limeworks together with the associated lime-burning kilns, industrial buildings and mine compound. A buffer zone has been created around the site in order to preserve site aesthetics and to prevent undesirable land use.

First and foremost, the inherent and paleo value of the site meant that development had to be done with utmost care as this site has become part of the South African psyche and a cultural jewel.

In order for planning to take place within the special confines of the site, many specialists were engaged. Initial planning began in July 2003 and is still ongoing. The implementation phase is set to continue for at least the next 18 months.

Adjudicators’ comments
The landscape architect produced a world-class conservation management plan for the Taung heritage site, which is a complex and very special place. Design guidelines provided contextual solutions supportive of the very interesting environment. The form of documentation was creative, interesting and user-friendly. An enclosed urban square is given a new and symbolic lease on life with public sculptures.

Sculpture inspiration
Jetty Square is a small urban square on the Foreshore of Cape Town near Jan van Riebeeck’s landing site.

Today the square is surrounded by highrise buildings on the reclaimed Foreshore in the centre of Cape Town. The square’s proximity and historical connection with the sea is hardly noticeable in its prime position at the commercial hub of Cape Town. It is inaccessible to vehicular traffic and has therefore become a backyard urban space over the years.

The site is crossed by countless pedestrians moving daily between the high-density office blocks in the area. The upgrading of the square was identified by the City of Cape Town as an important element on the pedestrian route between the city, the Cape Town International Convention Centre and the V&A Waterfront. The City of Cape Town bought the land from the previous owner.

Design concept
Earthworks Landscape Architects were appointed to develop the concept that aimed to get the pedestrian to pause for a moment of reflection and awareness in an otherwise busy day.

The idea was to highlight the natural and historical attributes that were completely obliterated by the development of the Foreshore. The space lends itself to function as a stage for urban events, such as multimedia screenings on the buildings to the east and south.

With the square cut off from vehicular traffic and major tourist routes, it would remain a hidden gem to be discovered by ordinary, working-class people who seldom have places of special interest created for them.

It was decided to use interactive sculptures that are contextual to the space and current affairs. Ralph Borland, an artist specializing in physical computing (’pcomp‘), created the artworks. There are five, life-sized sharks that appear to hover over the space as they swim with the wind. The sharks have been constructed from aluminium and marine plywood with fiberglass nosecones. They are supported on 3 m high posts that allow for free movement in the wind. The posts were inspired by childhood memories of building small model airplanes placed on a curved pedestal and replicated in galvanised steel.

A cobblestone pattern forms the ground plane, and charcoal and white cobbles were used to create a pixillated image of a water flow pattern as a haunting reminder of the ocean. The area that hold the sharks is shaped like a dry dock to further emphasise the sharks as ships out of water and the water that was drained from the engineered space.

Intimate experience
The designers wanted something more profound than sharks hovering over the space to hold and captivate the viewer. To this end, Borland placed a small infrared sensor in the nose cone of each shark – linked to two servo motors. These transfer motion to the gill chambers via push rods. The gill chambers are then rotated in line with the wind direction and produce a flute-like sound.

Borland worked with the musician Brendon Bussy to design and make the flutes, and on the arrangements of tones across the sculptures. Each shark sculpture produces a different sound. The effect is not very loud – mostly only audible to the person standing beside the shark. This enhances the intimacy of the experience. The project was constructed over a 10-week period in 2005.

Adjudicators’ comments
The project makes admirable use of sculpture as an integral part and experience of an urban public space. There is an exciting deviation from classic landscape resolutions to a public space by the incorporation of art as interactive features rather than passive visual elements.

Waterside design
Careful environmental design has turned an old saline lake into a place affording quality living.
An existing 30 ha saline lake, previously a sand mine, has presented an opportunity to develop a waterside development in the Noordhoek Valley of the Western Cape – Lake Michelle is an environmentally-sensitive, high-quality residential estate.

Detail design
The detailed aesthetics of the roads, bridges, ponds, boardwalks, external lighting, signage and open space was led by the landscape architect, CNdV Africa, to ensure that the project was design-driven. A network of paths, boardwalks and jetties create a varied link across the circulation ponds and provide access to the lake. Lighting has been minimised with restricted downlighting and landscape lighting is incorporated where necessary. Signage, which is illuminated at night, was specially designed for the development by the landscape architect.

‘Search and rescue’
Although the site had been disturbed and was almost entirely covered with invasive alien species, some of the lake edges and moist areas had plants identified for rescue prior to earthmoving.

These plants were removed from the site and taken to a local nursery where additional numbers were propagated for use on the site.

As a result, the use of local indigenous plants was seen as a way to ensure sustainability of the landscape, reduce the environmental impact of the development and enhance integration with the surrounding natural areas. Some 50 000 plants were rescued and 2 000 new trees were introduced. In total, 300 000 plants were specifically propagated for the project.

Central to the entire project was the need to sustain and augment the lake environment. To improve the water quality of the existing lake during stagnant periods, 7 ha of reed beds and additional ponds were designed as part of the landscape. These now circulate and aerate stormwater as well as the lake water.

One of the most profound aspects of Lake Michelle is its contribution to the improvement of stormwater quality in the Noordhoek Valley. The quality of water leaving the lake is much better than the water entering it. The reed-bed habitat created in the development attracts a lot of water birds. The August 2007 edition of Urban Green File features an extensive discussion of this inspiring project.

Adjudicators’ comments
It is a cohesive design, well-integrated into the surrounding context, especially in terms of material choices and the character of the constructed landscape. The project succeeded in not being overly-elaborate, allowing the natural site context to be expressed.

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WASTE AND POLLUTION MANAGEMENT  

A seven-year industrial clean-up
To rehabilitate a site where ammonium nitrate was manufactured, concentrations had to be brought down from 2 000 mg N/l to 15 mg N/l.

The Kynoch Milnerton plant operated from 1966 to 2005, producing ammonium-nitrate-based fertilisers.

The phased closure of the plant began in 1999 and was completed in 2005 when activity at the liquid fertiliser plant ceased. The core operations of the factory comprised the production of the nitrogenous fertiliser limestone ammonium nitrate (LAN). The factory used a waste gas stream from the adjacent Chevron (Caltex at the time) refinery to produce ammonia. When the phased closure began in 1999, the soil and groundwater at certain points on the site were found to be substantially contaminated with ammonium nitrate, and some localised groundwater contained concentrations up to 28 000 mg N/l.

The 60 ha site is 15 m above sea level on the corner of Koeberg and Plattekloof roads in Milnerton, Cape Town. Located in the environmentally-sensitive Western Cape, the pollution affected not only the Duikersvlei stream, which crosses the site, but also the interconnected Rietvlei wetland system and, specifically, the Milnerton Lagoon. The Duikersvlei stream flowed from a south-easterly to northwesterly direction across the site. At the Koeberg Road boundary, the stream exits the site, joins the Montague Gardens stormwater canal into the earth canal along the Rietvlei and then into the Milnerton Lagoon. In winter the canal runs over into the Rietvlei wetlands.

As the site once belonged to AECI (through its former Kynoch Fertiliser Division), Martin Burr, director of remediation for Heartland Leasing (a wholly owned subsidiary of AECI) had to manage the clean-up. Burr lays much of the blame for high contamination levels on a poorly designed plant as well as past AECI dumping of off-spec fertilisers. He reminds us that ecological footprints were certainly not at the forefront of corporate agendas in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Available technology was also less effective than available today.

According to Burr, the high concentrations of nitrogen caused eutrophication, which disrupts the normal functioning of the ecosystem and leads to a variety of problems, including a lack of oxygen in the water. Increased nitrate content in soil frequently promotes undesirable changes in the composition of vegetation and many plant species are endangered as a result of eutrophication.

Apart from the obvious negative impact on the ecosystem, the surrounding residential areas had to be considered too even though the contamination was not a risk to human health. Redevelopment potential of the site itself heightened the need for 100% remediation.

A bright future
AECI, with the assistance of Ritchie Morris of Morris Environmental Groundwater Alliances, chose to view closure of the Kynoch Milnerton fertiliser plant as the beginning of a better future for the site. They began with an historical review of the site; ensured co-operation between all role players so that the review would effectively contribute to the remediation programme; and identified activities beyond the most recent land use.

Local authorities, contractors, specialist consultants, and present and past employees, were all consulted to trace a comprehensive history of the environmental footprint of the site.

Closure of the plant commenced in 1999 and the remediation team were well aware that, until final closure in 2005, lower staff morale and an attempt to deny waste damage could aggravate the negative environmental impact and compromise remediation of the site. The team decided on a proactive strategy of raising environmental awareness through lectures. Inspection audits and site walkovers were implemented to manage any further impact during site closure.

Rehabilitation began with initial measures, such as the removal of dumps, maintenance of the stream and the construction of a sub-surface cut-off barrier to intercept the contaminated groundwater. This significantly reduced nitrogen levels.

In 2005, additional measures were planned to reroute the Duikersvlei stream, which eventually brought nitrogen levels down to an acceptable standard.

4 initial measures
A four-pronged approach was followed as an initial measure to clean the site.
1Clearing dumps   
Two dump sites had to be cleared as an immediate step to stop groundwater contamination.
Some 5 000 m² of waste material was excavated and removed from the main dump.

Characterised by hazardous coal tars, used oil and waste fertilisers, the dump also contained asbestos sheeting and rubble. Waste was mostly hand-sorted and hazardous waste disposed of safely. The highly-hazardous, coal-tar dump area underwent further remediation with the installation of three groundwater abstraction wells. The Duikersvlei embankment dump stretched along the stream for 180 m and 3 000 m³ of waste was excavated by strip mining. Some 2 000 bags of LAN fertiliser and 25 m³ of loose LAN were removed and used in agriculture, says Burr.

2 Cut-off barrier
Contaminated groundwater was the main culprit for the high nitrogen content of the original Duikersvlei stream. The groundwater flowed in a perpendicular direction to the stream.

In 2001, a sub-surface cut-off barrier – 3 m deep – was installed to intercept groundwater seeping to the Duikersvlei stream. The positive effect was immediate: an average annual reduction in surface water ammonium-nitrate levels of 550 mg/l (from 768 mg/l to 217 mg/l). Groundwater flowed through interception drains and abstraction sumps. Up to 40 m³/day was pumped into a new dam and diluted with treated effluent from the Potsdam wastewater treatment works.

3 Aquifer flushing galleries
A trial flushing gallery was installed to rehabilitate the aquifer below the site after discussions with Gareth McConkey and Wilna Kloppers of the Department of Water Affairs & Forestry (DWAF) in 2003. Treated effluent from Potsdam was successfully used to flush aquifers. The total ammonium-nitrate concentration in groundwells from 11 shallow monitoring wells close to the gallery dropped from highs of 5 000 mg N/l to acceptable levels. After removal of heavily-contaminated soils, a new aquifer flushing gallery, 400 m long, was installed above the most impacted parts of the site.

4 Soil rehabilitation
Unsaturated ammonium nitrate in the upper layers of the soil was not rehabilitated by aquifer flushing and posed a risk to future building development on the site. Depending on the exact concentration of soil, measures included the removal of soil to a stockpile after tilling and aeration; flooding and irrigation of soil; disposal of soil to Durbanville farmers and as cover material on a landfill; and the blending of less contaminated soil at a dilution factor of 1:10.

New directions
The four initial steps reduced off-site discharge to about 200 mg N/l – a marked improvement from peak concentrations of 2 000 mg N/l – but nowhere near the target of 15 mg N/l. In 2005, AECI began planning extra measures to re-route the Duikersvlei stream. This proved to be key to a drastic reduction in nitrogen content. And it turned out to be the most cost effective solution.

Consultation with DWAF resulted in a proposal to re-route the stream away from the contaminated ammonium-nitrate soil and groundwater to the southern end of the site. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) was undertaken by AECI with the assistance of DJ Environmental Consultants, adhering to regulations, as the re-routing of a stream is a listed activity.

While waiting for a positive record of decision, buildings were demolished and sediments within the Duikersvlei stream bed were characterised in preparation for excavation and removal of areas with elevated contamination. By September 2006, the stream was re-routed. This involved maintaining low flow velocities by means of drop-down gabions. Bed-erosion resistance, stormwater attenuation and stream meandering requirements were also built into the re-routing design performed and project-managed by Kantey & Templer.

Rehabilitation success
By October 2006, the site had a completely different profile. Buildings were gone, 500 000 t of soil had been moved and re-vegetation was complete.

Off-site surface water, measured weekly, now measures concentrations of less than 10 mg N/l. This is well below the maximum level of 18 mg/l allowed by DWAF and the City of Cape Town.

Burr reiterates that the main success of the programme was the re-routing of the stream to ensure water flowing off the site was safe and uncontaminated en route to the Milnerton Lagoon. The residual high on-site concentrations of ammonium nitrate will be addressed on a continuous basis through continued aquifer flushing.

In the seven-year site closure and remediation, Burr and Morris have a singular, simple piece of sound advice for industry: “Ultimate closure of an industry, particularly a chemical plant, should be planned from the design stages of the new plant. Recycling of material and safe disposal is far cheaper to undertake during the life cycle of a plant than in a huge remediation project involving bulk earth removal and high remedial costs to identify and rehabilitate damaged soil and groundwater.” The site was leased to film companies but has now been bought by a developer.

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PLANNING PERSONALITY

Dan Smit, a champion of sustainable human settlement
Answering the urban question
During his 30-year career in planning, Professor Dan Smit has championed the cause of sustainable human settlements – and trained champions of the future

Still very youthful but already something of a legend in the South African planning and housing arena, Professor Dan Smit is in the news for his work in the controversial arena of restructuring South African cities in terms of class and race. More specifically, he is centrally involved in the formulation and operationalisation of what has become known as inclusionary housing policy. The intention of inclusionary housing is to move the country away from its current, highly-segregated processes of built environment creation.

“Even though we’ve become more progressive, the way government and the market works forces us to continue with processes of built environment creation that, in the end, produce quite segregated outcomes – increasingly segregated,” Smit says. “One thinks of gated communities for the rich and large-scale RDP housing provided by government. While there’s a fair bit of mixing at the upper end of the spectrum, the outcomes are still unacceptably segregated. There’s a need to intervene without really getting into any serious social engineering.”

Smit says the idea of inclusionary housing isn’t new. The concept was developed in Europe and the US where various methods have been explored. Inclusionary housing was initiated in reaction to ‘exclusionary zoning’ with minimum lot sizes so large that it effectively excluded the poor.

“What we’re trying to do in South Africa is shape an inclusionary housing policy suitable for our circumstances,” Smit says.

The Breaking New Ground (BNG) policy is wider than inclusionary housing but integration and inclusivity is central to it.

Begun in September 2004, this National Department of Housing programme changed the focus of housing delivery from an individual-based approach to a project-based approach, which has the creation of sustainable human settlements as its ultimate goal.

However project implementation of the policy has not been without drawbacks.

Construction quality has been questioned in some cases and construction firms have complained of late payments.

Area-based approach
There’s no doubt that the BNG housing policy is a step in an entirely new direction for the national housing department but it’s not the first time Smit has been closely involved in a major government housing initiative. Among the projects he’s proud to have worked on, he includes the Cato Manor Development Project (CMDP) in Durban.

This area of Durban, 7 km west of the CBD, had a chequered past but, with the creation of the Cato Manor Development Association (CMDA) in the early ‘90s, a brighter future emerged. Smit was the CMDA’s first chief executive and key to the project’s success.

“This project addressed the question of sustainable development and could almost serve as a torch for the future,” he says. “I found working on this project to be very instructive because it sharpened my thinking.

It was the first time in South Africa that an area-based approach was adopted to address the issue of how to go about integrated and sustainable development.”

Smit worked on the CMDP for three or four years and later became the head of Durban Metro Housing. When he stepped down, his replacement, Maurice Makhathini, who had worked alongside Smit on the CMDP, said “filling Dan’s shoes will be a challenge.”

Politics and development interface
Smit was active in the Built Environment Support Group, which acted as an advocacy organisation in support of communities and labour organisations in Durban in the 1980s. This group was effectively the beginning of the progressive planning movement in South Africa and a step on the road towards building sustainable human settlements.

“My own trajectory has been one of coming into development with a strong political consciousness and then having that consciousness sharpened by living through that period of history.

Then we went into the post-apartheid period. In a sense, my own politics was such that I became a champion of development politics (more than party or populist politics).”

Smit asserts that the area between practice and theory has been a longstanding interest for him that may have been a natural progression of his initial studies in economics and geography.

“Being involved in development and urban planning issues was a way to make a more valuable contribution,” he says.

Smit also expresses the view that his involvement in practical implementation has always made him a better thinker and policy-maker and vice versa. It is quite difficult to get sustainability issues on the table politically.

Development is long-term but political terms are short. That’s one stumbling block. Another is the network and levels of government involved in development.

As Smit puts it, a politician, at whatever level, may have the idea to effect some change but, because of jurisdictional issues, may not be in a position to do what he or she wishes.

A key challenge in creating sustainable human settlements lies in tying together the activities of housing and urban development in a much tighter way.

Decentralisation
At the moment there’s quite a lot of tension around centralisation versus decentralization and Smit thinks there’s a case for both, depending on the issues.

“Sustainability inevitably makes one think in a more comprehensive way about the impacts of doing A, B and C – not only in terms of the immediate consequences but also in terms of the knock-on consequences. This tends to take one in a more central direction.”

However, there is an international trend in planning towards decentralisation, Smit says. And, from a political perspective, he adds, it is a trend that’s embraced on the left and right sides of the political spectrum although for different reasons. For the left, it promotes accessibility whereas, for the right, it’s about allocative efficiency.

Smit says he favours a model with distributional issues, such as basic services centralised but, in terms of specific resource allocation, it makes sense to decentralise it. “If we could link these two ideas into area-based management planning, it could work quite well for South Africa but there may not be much commitment to this idea.”

He believes the country has had a fair bit of decentralisation in terms of the way the constitution has been set up but the ministers and politicians have been frustrated at a more central level. “When delivery is not happening at a local level, they don’t have the direct levers in their hands to change it.”

Urban involvement
Although he is now based in Johannesburg, Smit has spent much of his professional life in Durban. Aside from his work with the Cato Manor Development Project and Durban Metro Housing, he taught at the (then) University of Natal in the late 1970s and early ‘80s. Fresh from his PhD studies in Oregon, USA, where he completed his dissertation on the political economics of city and regional planning in South Africa, he became involved in community and trade- union political issues of the time.

New directions
Now the scene is set for a more interesting phase in the integration of planning and housing. As a specialist in these fields, this issue is very close to Smit’s heart, and he eagerly wants to talk about his work.

He is involved in the Tshwane Comprehensive Sustainable Human Settlements Strategy – a US$1,3-million, World Bank-funded programme that brings together all aspects of sustainable human settlements. Even trying to define what is included and excluded is a monumental task because, if you want to talk about sustainable human settlements, then it is not only the act of delivering houses but delivering a full range of services at the same time. This means health, social services, welfare and education, which are all provided at provincial level whereas basic physical services, such as water and sanitation, are provided at municipal level. Right away you’ve got jurisdictional issues and complex co-operative relationships required to execute sustainable settlements effectively.

“It’s been an extraordinarily difficult exercise,” Smit says. Not only in terms of defining what’s in and out of the definition of the word ‘comprehensive’ but also how to work with what has already been created, what the constitution allows and what can be done by the machinery of local government.

Smit says he and six or seven private consultants worked in conjunction with Tshwane municipal officials to complete a draft by the end of August 2007.

Mentoring
Smit may have an easier time getting his ideas accepted at all levels given that he has trained many of the individuals working in South African planning today. His time at the University of Natal was obviously well spent as his ideas have been embraced by such key planners as Philip Harrison, executive director of development planning and urban management for the City of Johannesburg; Lulu Gwagwa, former chief executive officer of the Independent Development Trust; and Elroy Africa, deputy director-general of the Department of Provincial and Local Government – to name just a few.

Smit shows a bashful side as he admits he has trained many of the leading planners around the country. Not without a trace of pride, he says: “It’s funny how, as you get older, the family just gets bigger”.

Harrison says Smit has been “a considerable influence on my thinking and I am sure that many other students of his would say the same”. Remembering Smit in the classroom, Harrison says that “although his lectures may have seemed a little disorganised, they were attention grabbing and always challenged the way we thought and saw the world.”

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BATTLE OF THE ’BURBS

University campuses: Rhodes v NMMU
Academic villages
Every university campus has its own character and specific management challenges.

Universities, as institutes of higher learning, have for ages been centers of debate and innovation. In the spirit of contextual determinism, a lot has been written about the design of university campuses that would nurture healthy debate and innovation. Thomas Jefferson reportedly observed that each campus should be an ‘academic village’. It is sometimes argued that higher learning is an intensely personal enterprise with young scholars working closely with other scholars, and students sharing and arguing about ideas, religious beliefs, unusual facts and feelings. It is therefore imperative that a campus has a human scale to enhance collegiality and collaboration on research. It must also provide space that inspires creative thinking. If possible, architecture and layout should introduce a sense of the uncommon and represent the progressive character that a college or university campus demands.

For this edition’s battle of the ‘burbs, Urban Green File visited two university campuses in the Eastern Cape: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in Port Elizabeth and Rhodes University in Grahamstown.

Rhodes is more than 100 years old. Located in quaint Grahamstown, the university owns about 240 ha of land 110 ha is undeveloped. At the time of writing, Rhodes had about 6 245 students and about 1 200 staff members.

But, as with most universities in South Africa, there is a plan for growth and it is envisaged that, within the next few years, Rhodes will be home to more students.

During the restructuring of the higher education sector over the past few years, the newly established NMMU actually merged three institutions and seven campuses, including the South (previously University of Port Elizabeth), North (previously Port Elizabeth Technikon), Saasveld in George, Missionvale (previously Vista University) and Bird Street in downtown Port Elizabeth. When Urban Green File visited in August 2007, the university had about 9 441 students on the South Campus but growth was also expected. For the purposes of this discussion, it was decided to focus on the South Campus (the former University of Port Elizabeth) as NMMU views each campus as a separate entity.

Environment
RHODES 9/10
* Indigenous vegetation
* Lower maintenance

Mark Hazell, manager of the grounds and gardens at Rhodes University, says the choice of vegetation is not only based on aesthetics, maintenance and availability but, as it is an institute of higher learning and research, also a variety of species in order to have natural specimens readily available for students.

A large area of the campus grounds is made up of lawns, parks and fields. In order to lower maintenance costs, shrubs have been planted where possible (for example on small islands), watercourses have been converted so that wetland plants could be planted, and a longer grain of cut has been introduced to reduce costs. No chemical fertilisers are used at all except on the cricket pitches.

In the unbuilt areas of campus, Rhodes collaborated with the Working for Water programme to get rid of alien vegetation. Hazell is very excited about the addition of the second-oldest botanical gardens in the country. It is undergoing a redevelopment of about R17-million.

One of the responsibilities is to take care of refuse removal. In 2006, Rhodes spent nearly R75 000 on the removal of toxic waste generated by science laboratories and the like. In addition, the university paid about R70 000 to dump general waste from residences and academic buildings at the municipal landfill.

NMMU 9/10
* Water recycling
* Integrated with reserve

The NMMU South Campus was built in the 1970s and landscaping was done at more or less the same time. John Elliott, manager: horticultural services for NMMU, says indigenous vegetation includes a lot of fynbos and dune shrubs, particularly St Francis fynbos/thicket mosaic.

With a nature reserve as part of the university property, the South Campus has a game fence but small mammals, snakes and birds can be found among the buildings.

Some 80% of water used on the South Campus is recycled. For instance, irrigation of sports fields comes from the Cape Recife reclamation works. There is even a catchment dam on campus. However there are three areas where potable water is used for irrigation and cleaning.

Students also use these areas for eating and relaxation. Potable water is not necessary; it is only a precautionary measure.

According to Elliot, 90% of plants on campus are grown by the horticultural services department. There used to be a chemical-waste plant on campus but it has closed down and waste management is now an outsourced service.

Accessibility
RHODES 9/10
* Pedestrian-friendly
* Ties with town

A large number of Rhodes University students either live on campus or in town. A modelling exercise conducted by the university found that their walking distance to any point on campus is a maximum of 12 minutes.

The need for vehicular transport is, therefore, significantly reduced and pedestrian traffic is the order of the day. However, to meet possible future needs, a new 240-bay car park has been completed.

NMMU 6/10
* Parking problems
* Taxis

As the NMMU South Campus is not as easily accessible from the city of Port Elizabeth and because of higher student numbers, motor vehicle counts are much higher. According to Elliot, NMMU is upgrading grass car parks.

There is an informal taxi rank at the entrance, between the South and the North campuses, and plans are under way to upgrade the facility. Taxis are allowed access to campus.

But humans are not the only users of the South Campus space. The designers of the campus also made provision for animal movement through corridors.

Sense of community
RHODES 8/10
* Distinct character
* Security emphasis

As pedestrian traffic prevails on campus, combined with attractive and diverse architecture, the Rhodes campus has a very strong sense of community. The grounds and gardens department tries to nurture and enhance this. For instance, with the construction of the new computer laboratory, 24 acacias were planted between the building and its multi-storey neighbour. The idea was to create a sort of ‘urban forest’ between the two buildings to reduce noise, attract birdlife and reduce reflection from one building to the other.

There is a low incidence of crime on campus. Some of the buildings have access control but the campus is not fenced. Emphasis is, however, on adequate lighting for pedestrians. A ‘blue route’ has also been introduced – it is patrolled 24/7 and has panic buttons. Some areas even have webcam monitoring.

NMMU 6/10
* Lack of human scale
* Long distances

The apparent long distances between various buildings on campus create a very spacious feeling.

Combined with the brutalistic architecture, it can even be viewed as sparse and somewhat cold. On closer inspection, there are, however, spots with a surprisingly charming sense of community, such as private gardens and courtyards, within the various departments.

Security services on the NMMU South Campus are contracted to a private service provider. Limited access control is enforced when entering the university grounds. Authorities are reportedly looking at putting up fences around the residences. Although parts of the campus have dense foliage, the horticultural services department has identified areas where pedestrians might be vulnerable so these are kept open with adequate lighting.

Development potential
RHODES 7/10
* Ties with town
* Potential for ‘night school’

Rhodes has a very distinct and important relationship with the town of Grahamstown.

Any major developments taking place in town have a profound impact on the campus and vice versa. The university, therefore, makes an effort to participate in municipal activities, such as the integrated development planning process, and other neighbouring development processes like the Kowie Catchment Campaign.

At the time of writing, ‘night school’ (afterhours classes) was not offered, except in the education department, which caters for some part-time students. This could change in future. Two new residences are under construction at a cost of about R10-million each.

NMMU 7/10
* Ties with North Campus
* General expansion

One of the most recent additions to the NMMU South Campus is a post-graduate village, which reflects a trend in higher education. The university is reportedly considering the development of a high-performance sports centre in the near future.

However the biggest development challenge of the future would probably be the establishment of proper ties with the North Campus, in particular, in order to optimise the facilities on both campuses in line with the wider vision of the university.

Conclusion
RHODES 33/40
NMMU 28/40

Both campuses are exquisite examples of sensitive landscaping and appropriate planting. Each campus also clearly reflects its era of establishment. Rhodes has managed to accommodate change over the years in a most remarkable fashion.

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INSPIRATION

Space for trees
The design of upmarket townhouses in Cape Town incorporates existing trees.

In the southern suburbs of Cape Town, opposite the Newlands cricket grounds, on the site of the original Monorgan Manor House, Monorgan Mews has been completed. Set amid tall, graceful trees against the imposing backdrop of Table Mountain, developers wanted to preserve the gracious character of Monorgan House while developing 26 sectional-title units.

Behind its gracious façade, the existing historic manor house was converted into two modern 340 m² units while additional units were built among the majestic trees that grace the property – all retained in the sensitive layout of the complex.

According to CNdV Africa, the appointed landscape architectural firm, the challenge was to optimise the development potential of the site while retaining the essential historic and landscape elements that contribute to the strong sense of place of Monorgan House. The main vista of the existing house, framed by the mature cork oaks, was identified as central. This vista was translated into a plan to identify the relevant trees, drip lines and axial orientation that contribute to the sense of place, which together with the side, rear and front building lines provided a footprint for the proposed buildings to be located. This maximum building footprint provided a generous backdrop for Monorgan House so that the grandeur of the original house continued to shine through.

The solution is inspiring as buildings were designed to accommodate the majestic trees on the site. Even during construction, the contractors were careful not to damage the trees.

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INSULT
Bay of decay?
Heritage buildings in the Port Elizabeth CBD are not maintained.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality has made marked progress over the past few years in the maintenance of the Port Elizabeth CBD. Sidewalks and public spaces were once strewn with litter but, nowadays, frequent visitors to the area find the city centre clean. The success of the Feathermarket Hall as a conference venue and upgrading of Govan Mbeki Drive indicate progress in the revitalisation of the CBD.

But there is still cause for concern. Widely discussed in the local and national media, heritage buildings in the central area are not maintained. Irish developer Ken Denton owns numerous buildings in the city and has been accused by many of allowing decay to set in.

The 18 Donkin Street terrace houses were bought by Denton in 1999 for R3,4-million. Completed in 1870, these fine examples of Victorian architecture – with wooden verandas, and black-and-white, corrugated-iron roofing – have all been declared national monuments.

According to a local newspaper, Denton promised to take action about two years ago but, in July 2007, an inspection initiated by the municipality revealed that many of Denton’s properties, including the Donkin Street terrace houses, had been badly vandalised. Apparently thieves were systematically removing any item of the slightest value. One of the terrace houses was even used illegally as a restaurant.

The municipality is reportedly considering legal action against Denton’s group of property companies. Whether or not this is possible or probable remains to be seen. Until then, precious heritage buildings, which are the very essence of the attractive city, might be permanently damaged.

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TREE OF THE ISSUE

Faidherbia albida
A striking tree
The Ana tree or Faidherbia albida could be a striking and memorable landscape feature, writes Johan Bothma of African EPA.

The process of choosing plants in the design of a landscape could be likened to choosing an outfit to wear to a social event. There are outfits that are worn time and again – tried and tested, safe ensembles that do the job without really impressing anybody. Of course, there are also pieces that just won’t work at all as they are not appropriate for the occasion or just don’t look right. But then there are a few pieces that we almost never wear as they may be slightly different to what everybody else is used to. Yet, if carefully combined, these pieces could make the most striking and memorable impression.

Judging by its infrequent use in our urban spaces, this must surely be the case with the stunning Ana tree or Faidherbia albida (SA tree #159). This large, upright-growing tree is indigenous to the South African lowveld and found in woodland, wooded grassland and riverine-fringe forest. Several specimens of note occur in the northern part of the country.

For instance, a spectacular group of these trees 15 km north-west of Mokopane (Potgietersrus), known as Livingstone’s trees, have been declared a national heritage.

Another striking specimen near Polokwane (Pietersburg) was supposedly planted by Louis Trichardt when he visited the region.

Although somewhat restricted in terms of distribution, as it prefers warmer conditions, this handsome and highly-visible tree is one of the fastest-growing indigenous trees and is perfect for any application where enough space is available. It becomes a lovely accent tree with its tall, upright form displayed in open, expansive spaces and is a natural choice for large corporate gardens, golf courses and school grounds. It is also a very effective windbreak if spaced relatively closely together along with low, denser trees and shrubs. Where sufficient space is available, it makes a very effective street tree, especially along large multi-lane roads or in a central traffic island or circle. More entrances into South African towns and cities should be celebrated with this stately, proud species.

It is also a highly-suitable species where tall exotics, such as eucalyptus trees, are to be replaced and works well with other thorn trees such as Acacia galpinii, A xanthophloea, A negrescens and A burkei (depending on the area). When used together with Combretum erythrophyllum (river bushwillow), it creates a spectacular display during autumn as its greyish-green leaves contrast vividly with the bright reds and yellows of the river bushwillow’s foliage.

This tree can be easily propagated by soaking its seeds in hot water overnight and planting them in sand-filled bags the next morning. The tap root develops quickly and the tree will soon outgrow its container. It will have to be transplanted several times if large specimens are to be supplied. It is therefore best if planted in its intended location as soon as possible. It grows best if planted in sandy soil and young trees should be protected from frost.