BACKGROUND

The City of Cape Town initiated a housing development in Hout Bay as part of the Community Residential Units (CRU) Programme. The CRU Programme targets low-income residents and households earning between R800–R3500 a month, and who are unable to afford private rental and social housing. The City of Cape Town envisioned that the Hangberg residential units would be allocated to its best tenants in other existing housing units.

Delta Built Environment Consultants (Delta BEC) was appointed to provide professional engineering and design services for the Hangberg Community Residential Units development. The team was made up of civil, structural and electrical engineers as well as quantity surveyors, town planners, and architects.

SERVICES RENDERED

A hundred and forty-five units were constructed on two stands in Hout Bay:

• Most units comprised two bedrooms
• Special needs units for the disabled were accommodated on the ground floor, including with wheelchair access
• Residential development enables and creates a sense of neighbourhood and community
• A limited variation of accommodation types was created to generate a sense of aesthetic and interest
• Outdoor spaces were carefully designed to avoid typical social problems
• Special consideration was given to the youth and toddlers – their play areas were designed to be convenient, safe, and easily visible
• Safe pedestrian routes away from vehicles were created
• Road layout discourages fast moving traffic and traffic noise
• Design accommodates safety through access control and security personnel.

Delta BEC’s architectural team formulated a typical Cape design for the buildings characterised by the fenestration (window) patterns on the building façades that lent something familiar to the development. The height of the buildings was also limited to three storeys to preserve a more friendly and human scale.

Th project was completed in July 2016.