ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND FOOTPRINT

PHILOSOPHY

VIEWS Building forms part of a larger development called Waves at Wilderness. Waves consists of a mix of Residential and Commercial projects on land that consisted of some of the most desirable beachfront properties in Wilderness and some badly planned and environmentally desecrated real estate. The challenge was to re-plan the fundamentally flawed parts by:

• retaining the unspoiled parts
• rehabilitating the damaged portion

and

• creating sustainable project
• involving the needs of the local community

EXISTING DEVELOPMENT NODE

VIEWS Building was developed in an existing development node on land previously used. The land use and redevelopment is in agreement with the Wilderness Local Structure Plan ((1997)

HISTORICAL STRUCTURES

The VIEWS site was originally used as a sewage treatment plant for the then called Wilderness Holiday Inn. The plant and its surroundings was an ecological disaster zone with its byproducts just emptied down the dune-face. Developing VIEWS started with the removal of the old plant structures and cleaning of the whole area, including the dune-face.

ALIEN VEGETATION

The VIEWS Site and its surroundings were heavily infested with alien invasive species such as Pine and Rooikrans (Acacia Cyclops). As part of the preparation of the land for development the whole site as well as part of the dune-face were cleared of all alien vegetation and is kept that way

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

VIEWS Building was the subject of a NEMA Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) under the auspices of the Dept of Environmental Affairs & Planning (DEA&P). The EIA involved numerous Environmental as well as Planning issues, but focused on the visual impact and the immediate environmental impact of the building. Particularly of great concern was the issue of skyline pollution and stormwater management which in planning was addressed in great detail. A Record of Decision was granted in November 2007. The details of the EIA and ROD are a matter of public record.

CONSERVATION

After removal of the sewer plant, VIEWS site contained no vegetation apart from a cluster of indigenous White Milkwood (Sideroxylon inerme) trees in an awkward position from a planning point of view. The Site Development Plan therefore revolved around protecting these trees as far as possible. This was done successfully by planning around the trees.

REHABILITATION

The historical activities left a legacy of environmentally destroyed areas and all these are to be rehabilitated using indigenous material only. However, due to the severe drought and the resultant water restrictions in the area, this program has been put on hold.

THE BUILDING PROCESS

VIEWS Building was constructed under the guidance of an EMP (Environmental Management Plan) approved by DEA&P and overseen by an independent Environmental Officer. Great care was taken to minimize the construction footprint to the site and not to infringe on the environmentally sensitive areas such as the dune face and the cluster of Milkwood trees.

GARDENING

VIEWS Building has quite limited garden areas as such, but fairly large areas need to be rehabilitated from historical damage. All gardening near the dune face is with approved indigenous plants. In areas further away from the dune face only non self propagating approved planting is planned. All gardening has been put on hold pending the breaking of the drought. All the exposed soil has been protected against wind erosion by covering with bark.

IRRIGATION

All plants are chosen to be self sustainable in the specific conditions of the site, i.e. loose sand that dries out quickly, salty loaded sea winds and extended periods of drought. Experience has shown that even such plants require a period of irrigation until established, after which only very limited irrigation will be required.

DUNE STABILITY

VIEWS Building is situated about 40m above Wilderness Beach on an ancient, but stable dune. One of the main concerns raised during the EIA was the issue of “dune stability”. This, often misunderstood, real problem was addressed in detail in the EIA, but in short involves three important solutions:

• lowering the centre of gravity by “in” and not “on” the dune.
• spreading the weight of the building by building on a so called “floating raft”
• controlling all Stormwater generated on the site and by the building by ducting it through and around the building to the main municipal Stormwater system.

HUMAN ENVIRONMENT

Apart from providing numerous temporary jobs, VIEWS Building had minimal impact on the people of Wilderness during construction. More than 80 permanent news jobs have so far been created by the 4 ventures. This will grow as the 4 businesses mature.

COMMUNITY

VIEWS Building has provided some much needed facilities for the Wilderness Community i.e. two sea-view restaurants, a Spa and Gym.

BOARDWALK

A new solidly constructed boardwalk, replacing but following the footprint of the previous unsafe structure, will provide public access to the beach. It crosses an inherently unstable layer of about 1m of sand, dumped from the original excavations for the Wilderness Holiday Inn. Special auguring rather than conventional digging techniques are used to minimize the impact during construction and to ensure the required depth of footing.

THE BUILDING

VIEWS Building incorporates a number of systems that have been selected to minimize the “real” environmental footprint:

• Water:  The main use of water in VIEWS Building is in bathrooms. The separation of soap contaminated “grey” water and its recycling for say gardening is not permitted since the natural draining of the site is towards the sensitive coastal dune and beach.
• Waste water: All waste is either pumped or gravity fed into the municipal sewer system.
• Stormwater: Uncontrolled concentration of water during heavy downpours would quickly cause extensive erosion of the dune face. Thus, all the Stormwater generated by the site and by VIEWS building is carefully collected and discharged via the safe municipal Stormwater discharger to the west.
• Electricity: All Suites are equipped with a FOB switch that activates the lights during occupancy only. The use of LED (light emitting diodes) and CFL (compact fluorescent lamps) wherever possible, conserves the use of electricity.
• Internal Climate Control:  To maximise the unique attributes of the site i.e. the “views”, VIEWS Building has been designed with large glass panels, thus the building could require simultaneous heating and cooling of some areas. The air conditioning systems are designed to “pump” heat from warmer to colder areas. To limit the heat load in summer, the roof and atrium windows are fitted with “Solar Shield” heat reflecting glass.
• Heating of Water
  • a state of the art vacuum tube solar heater heats the outdoor pool
  • High efficiency heat pumps heat the indoor pool and assist in heating the outdoor pool
  • A Central boiler system rather than individual geysers optimises the heating of water
• Air pollution VIEWS Building is fitted with an Environmental Ventilation Unit that filters and purifies the air from the restaurant’s kitchen and refuse room.
• Waste Management: Waste removal is done trice weekly by the local authority. No waste disposal is done on site.
• Recycling: Southern Cape recycling collect glass, cans, paper and cardboard.