Landscaping SALI Awards
GREENinc Landscape Architecture was responsible for the hard and soft landscaping design at The Houghton apartments overlooking Houghton Golf Course in Jonannesburg and won an Institute of Landscape Architecture of South Africa ( ILASA ) Merit Award in 2015 . Earthforce Landscapes won the South African Landscapers Institute ( SALI ) Just Trees Trophy for Best Construction with Design by Others for The Houghton in 2016 .
The Houghton comprises two wings of apartments overlooking and named after Hole 7 and Hole 12 with a view across the parkland course into the distance , along with a 5-Star hotel , the construction of which has commenced recently . The client at the Houghton Golf Estate is ASVID Holdings ; the architects , Boogertman & Partners ( Johannesburg ); the main contractor , Gothic Construction ; and the landscape contractors , Earthforce Landscapes .
The Houghton development embraces attention to detail across all areas . Each apartment wing is 7-stories high and the individual ‘ stacks ’ of apartments each have their own lifts , eliminating the need for common corridors at the back of the building . GREENinc makes mention that with no ‘ back of house ’, the landscape has been freed to offer residents usable spaces on both sides – common areas which facilitate access on one side and private ground floor gardens linked by a planted corridor on the other .
Although much of the back communal garden space is dedicated to vehicle movement , the pedestrian environment has been taken into account with planting introduced to soften the expanse of paving and cobble surfaces flowing homogenously throughout the areas . Planting had to be done in raised planters and loose pots as this area is positioned on the basement slab . At H12 , plant choices were limited to hardy plants as the back area is hot and sunny in summer and in the cold shadow of the building throughout winter .
On the golf course side of the apartment buildings , ground floor units open up to private gardens as extensions of the indoor space , with vistas across the golf course . H12 gardens were designed as large ‘ balconies ’ on a raised level , terraced down to the golf course . The landscape architects conceived the gardens as solid surfaces with planting beds , along with squares of lawn and pools “ elegantly sliced ” into the surfaces . These gardens are separated from neighbours by alternating timber screens and clipped or more informal hedges of Freylinia tropica ( Blue and White Honeybells ) and Buddleja saligna ( False Olive ) providing privacy on the horizontal . Timber pergolas with retractable awnings are located over pools to provide seclusion from the units above . Additionally , scattered trees assist in filtering out observation from above .
The step between the lower and upper terraces precluded the use of balustrades but allowed the ‘ clearvu ’ security fence to be dropped out of view . The lower terrace falls within the common area , allowing movement between units along a pathway of pavers inter-planted with low groundcovers such as the Falckia repens ( White Carpet ), as well as enabling access for maintenance staff .
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