Estate Living Magazine #liveyourbestlife - Issue 46 December 2019 | Página 8

P R O P E R T Y
&
I N V E S T M E N T
With an eye to generating the maximum benefit from this unique
feature – for residents and the environment alike – the developers
(North Global Group Properties (Pty) Ltd) chose an unusually
low-density mix of 128 large freehold stands, two sectional title
developments of 45 and 35 units each, and a small commercial
facility – a ‘high-end satellite workspace for professionals and family
businesses’, with nine office spaces and 70 square metres of retail.
Complementing these homes and workspaces, the development
also includes two clubhouses: one (a spectacularly designed
functions area that’s surrounded on all sides by movable glass) that
will appeal mostly to the grown-ups, and another – with swimming
pools, tennis court, and playground – that will appeal to families.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Family and community sit at the core of what North Global Group
Properties have aimed to achieve here, and it’s through the design
of the elements outside of the homes – the landscape architecture –
that this becomes most apparent.
Landscape architects Uys & White paid special attention to the shape
of the land – specifying swales to direct rainwater, for example,
upgrading dams, and creating safari-style roads with 30-metre
verges that become shared open space for the community, and a
safe place for children to play and explore. (None of the roads on
the estate is tarred: instead, concrete strips and paving bricks in
innovative patterns embrace, rather than clash with, the indigenous
forest, informal planting areas, and open, grassy lawns through
which they meander.)
Design specifications for all buildings on the estate require that
they reduce their carbon footprints by 50% over comparable
developments elsewhere. So, for example, home owners are
required to limit their dependence on the national electricity grid,
and to recycle their grey water.