Today, the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews, visited Helderberg Nature Reserve in Somerset West to see the newly built Helderberg Environmental Centre (HEC). The setting of the reserve on the slopes of the Helderberg, overlooking False Bay, makes it an ideal location to teach communities in and around Somerset West about the Western Cape’s plant and animal kingdom and our impact. As such, staff at the reserve identified the need for an environmental education centre where school groups and visitors can be accommodated.
The City’s aim with this facility was to ensure that alternative construction methods and sustainable design thinking was demonstrated in the building in order for it to function as extended environmental education tools in the centre once completed.
Construction of the centre commenced in June 2020 and the contractor is currently completing the final touches to the building. If all goes as planned, the project will be completed later this month.
Many of the conventional materials and methods used in the construction industry have a negative impact on the environment. They carry a high embodied energy, and water and waste footprint in their construction. The City decided to use this project as an opportunity to ensure that environmentally responsible material is used.
‘The new Helderberg Environmental Centre is a magnificent building that I have personally been eager to see as I knew the project would provide a practical example of what a green City facility can look like. The centre is a successful case study of green construction methods that could benefit other new municipal facilities in the future. The material selection and construction techniques of this project increased the semi-skilled job opportunities for residents in the Helderberg area over the past 18 months, which resulted in 32 additional EPWP workers employed on site. These opportunities would not have been possible without implementing these green construction practices. This center provides the perfect setting for the various environmental education programmes the City’s nature reserves offer various schools and interest groups,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.
The design of this holistic sustainable facility considered a number of components such as:
Waste
Functionality
Ecology
Thermal impact
Ground, waste and storm water impact
Light pollution
Reducing carbon emissions.
Some of the sustainability features of the new HEC includes the impressive tyre retaining wall; eco brick wall and the integrated water treatment system, which includes the four chamber underground Black Water Treatment System.
In order to demonstrate alternative construction methods, the design showcased three approaches where waste was used in the wall construction. The concept for the enclosure is based on two curved walls, one fitting into the other and were constructed as follows:
The inner curved wall and foundations were constructed from rammed earth and repurposed building rubble
The outer curved retaining wall was constructed from repurposed tyres. Building rubble and Ecobricks made from plastic bottles filled with plastic waste were used to fill the tyres for the wall. A total of 830 truck tyres were used for the tyre wall, which is approximately 40m long and 3,4m high.
The internal walls are constructed from Ecobricks. The ecobricks are made by filling and compacting plastic waste inside plastic bottles. The bottles were then stacked inside a frame to make the walls. Natural cob was also used to plaster over the ecobricks instead of conventional cement based plaster.
The three wall types showcase the principle of carbon burying. The materials that would otherwise become a burden in a landfill were reused and repurposed and given a new life . This new facility now serves as carbon sinks by sequestrating waste. The idea of repurposing and upcycling materials allows this centre to speak to sustainability. In addition, approximately 176 cubic metres of earth and recycled building rubble were used for the rammed earth walls and foundations as well.
The integrated water treatment system is noteworthy as it serves the new facility and solves the burden of the waste water generated by the existing facilities. Waste water from the new facility; the nearby restaurant; ablutions; the visitor’s centre and rain water from the new facility are captured and sent to the underground black water treatment system. The black water treatment system takes waste water and passes it through a four chamber process before being stored in storage tanks for the flushing of toilets in the new facility and existing ablution blocks. This ensures minimum water usage and zero water wastage. The treatment system makes use of bacteria and microorganisms to break down solids and treat the waste water, a process that mimics nature without releasing harmful nitrates into the atmosphere.
‘The Friends of Helderberg have watched with interest over the past 18 months as the new HEC has taken shape, using various eco-friendly building materials and methods and look forward to it being used and enjoyed as a multi-functional centre in the years ahead,’ said Mrs Penny Clifton-Smith, Chairperson of the Friends of Helderberg.
This new facility is situated close to the parking and entrance of the reserve. It hosts a stage and has a clip-on bedouin tent, which expands the covered usable area of the facility to accommodate larger functions.
Source: City Of Cape Town