Page 22 - Landscape-Issue142

PROJECT

SKYE COLLEGE, GAUTENG

Skye College is a pre-school, preparatory and high school in Honeydew,
Johannesburg. Skye Architects, having designed the buildings, hard landscaping
and playgrounds, ensured that diverse spaces were created between the buildings,
allowing enough space for landscaping to soften them, and for shade trees to be

provided.

Project Team
Client: Thrive Education
Architect: Skye Architects
Landscape Architect:
Walt Landscape Architects
Landscape Contractors:
Endemic Developments
Playscape Installation: Plant Elite Group
Horticultural Consultant: Abrus Enterprise

he client strongly subscribes to the
UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,
Twhich involves incorporating clean
energy sources, water harvesting and
sustainable water use into their projects
as far as possible. Their brief for this
campus was to recreate and rehabilitate
the landscape to what occurs naturally
in the area, namely the Egoli Grassland
vegetation type. The aim was to produce
an aesthetically pleasing landscape which
would need minimal watering, if any,
and be low in maintenance. All intensive
planting areas were therefore planted with
grasses from the Egoli Grassland vegetation
type.
Ivan van der Walt from Abrus Enterprise
played a pivotal role in determining which
grasses were used, and was requested by
landscape architect Elize van der Walt to
assist with the ecological aspects of the
project. He saw it as an opportunity to
bring back as much diversity as possible
into the urban landscape; at the same time,
it was necessary to use the landscape as material and nesting habitats. had to be used optimally to ensure
an ecological tool to educate the learners, He was asked to specify species that sufficient variety and seasonal interest with
parents and staff about the value of remain relatively small, as many of the textures, seedheads and flower colour. After
grasslands in nature. planting beds could not accommodate two growing seasons, the landscape is now
He compiled plant and grass lists larger species such as Themeda triandra. successfully established and there are pops
of species native to the Egoli Granite Two plant mixes were specified, one for of colour throughout the year. Although
Grassland vegetation type, which is a sunny areas and one for shady areas. Both most of the plants used have small flowers
highly threatened and transformed habitat mixes had flowering plants such as Aloes, (such as Hypoxis, Nerine and Felicias), they
between Pretoria and Johannesburg. Very Hypoestes, Felicia, Hypoxis, Nerine, Merwillia, do become quite conspicuous as they are in
little pristine veld remains of it, mainly due Leonotis, Scabiosa, Senecio and others. high contrast to the mostly green or white-
to development. Trees were challenging to specify, as brown colour of the grasses around them.
Van der Walt selected mainly water wise most Highveld species remain quite small
species, an important consideration factor in their natural environments. Larger shade Rain garden
in the context of increasingly limited water trees were chosen, such as Kiggelarias, At the lower end of the prep school, a rain
availability and climate change. Another Combretums and Oleas, but the rest have garden was created to catch run-off from a
factor was the selection of species that a more shrub-like growth form, such as large expanse of lawn and play area. It was
would attract birds, insects and other Buddleja, Rhamnus and Diospyros. laid out with packed rock and boulders,
wildlife to the landscape through the Working with a limited plant palette with water-loving species such as Crinum,
availability of seed, nectar, water, nesting meant that the grasses and forbs available Juncus, Kniphofia and Watsonia planted

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