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PROJECT

The position and orientation of the environmental centre into the natural embankment creates a strong visual connection to the
concert stage and mountain peaks in the distance.

Environmental sustainability aspects of the new Helderberg Environmental Centre (HEC)

The HEC exemplifies fully sustainable • the inner curved wall of the building, as four chamber black water treatment
design thinking and construction and is the well as the foundations, were constructed system which stores and treats effluent
result of a collaborative effort by individuals using rammed earth and repurposed from the centre and other nearby
and departments in the City of Cape Town, building rubble, massively reducing buildings and ablutions. This treated
in particular Nature Conservation and the the amount of cement needed for water is re-used for flushing of toilets and
Urban Planning and Design Department, construction. Cement has one of the is a good example of a circular ecosystem
developers of the building concept. highest carbon footprints of all building where water wastage is almost entirely
Nature Reserve Manager Hayley Wittridge materials; avoided;
provided the following information: • the outer retaining wall of the building • the centre is fitted with a solar photovoltaic
• the HEC was constructed using mainly was constructed with over 800 recycled system to generate its own electricity. The
alternative methods and sustainable truck tyres filled with compacted building savings in terms of electricity costs and
materials, demonstrating that rubble and sand taken from other carbon emissions are significant;
commitment to the environment is at the construction sites. Once completed, the • virtually the entire roof of the centre is
core of its design and construction; tyre wall was plastered by hand using one big garden planted with indigenous
• the centre is a tangible extension of an environmentally friendly plaster mix plants and succulents, and irrigated with
environmental learning, giving visitors called cob, which contains a minimal rainwater and recycled grey water;
a first-hand experience of the positive amount of cement; • 32 EPWP jobs were created for people
impact of sustainability in action; • the construction process included over from local communities who gained
• the various types of sustainable 8000 ecobricks, plastic bottles filled with sustainable building skills;
construction used demonstrate the compacted plastic refuse; • initial funding for the project was accessed
principle of carbon burying. This is when • the HEC is a carbon sink, meaning that the through the sale of pine trees, harvested
waste materials, that would otherwise building saves and absorbs more carbon from the slopes of the Helderberg Reserve.
have found their way to landfills, are than it uses; Some of the harvested timber was also
repurposed for construction; • the building includes an underground, used in the building itself.

Information supplied by Rene Maria Brett of Viridian Consulting Landscape Architects. Photos by Rene Maria Brett and Bruce Sutherland, City of Cape Town. n

Landscape SA • Issue 114 2022 7