Cape Town's changing skyline

Cape Town is fast becoming a hub for cutting-edge building design, with several new developments pushing the eco-architecture envelope.

In the city centre alone, at least 20 new building projects and redevelopments worth an estimated R3.5bn are under way or have recently been completed, according to the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID). Most are high-rise residential or mixed-use projects - developments that combine work, stay and play components to cater for the surging demand for inner-city living and short-stay tourist accommodation.

These include the recently completed Hemp Hotel at 84 Harrington Street, now the world's tallest building constructed from hempcrete blocks and hemp building materials. The 12-storey aparthotel, which was developed by Hemporium and Afrimat Hemp, sets a new standard in terms of carbon- neutral design. The building comprises 50 self-contained apartments, a coworking space, a restaurant, a bar, a wellness area, a swimming pool and an outdoor rooftop deck.

Then there are several redevelopments that blend historic charm with modern functionality, most notably One Thibault Square, The Rubik and The Barracks.

One Thibault, the old BP Centre, which was built in the early 1970s near St George's Mall, is now Cape Town's tallest building in its new guise as an aparthotel. The modernist skyscraper houses 270 studio and one-bedroom apartments spread across 28 floors.

The Rubik is a striking skyscraper nearing completion on the intersection of Loop and Riebeeck streets. True to its name, the R500m development is made up of stacked glass boxes which pivot around a central axis.

Developer Abland's mixed-use project has an 11-storey base, including retail on the ground and first floors and seven storeys of office space. On top of that sit nine residential levels comprising 87 apartments. Abland director Grant Silverman says The Rubik is the company's third architecturally signific- ant development in Cape Town's inner city and follows on the legacy of 22 Bree and 35 Lower Long, both of which achieved a four-green-star rating from the Green Building Council of South Africa.

The Barracks, in Bree Street, a CBD heritage landmark, has also been completely reimagined. Originally built in the 18th century as a warehouse to store wine and grain, and later used for military housing, the building was bought in the early 2000s by brothers Mike and Casey Augoustides as a warehouse for the family business, Mike's Sports. After a lengthy legal battle the brothers eventually gained approval to redevelop the site in 2017.

"We believe we have created a structural marvel," says Casey Augoustides.

The original building was retained while a sleek tower was added. The Barracks offers a mix of state- of-the art commercial space, a wellness centre, the Cowfish Bree Street restaurant and 70 fully serviced aparthotel suites.

Casey adds: "It's essentially two buildings separated by an airgap. In this way the two sections are made to look clearly different but remain part of one dynamic development."

One of the most innovative additions to the inner city's architectural landscape is The Fynbos, in Upper Bree Street - Africa's first biophilic residential building. Essentially, biophilic design refers to nature-inspired buildings which incorporate features that increase the overall wellbeing of their occupants.

Construction on The Fynbos began in December and is expected to near completion in 2025. The development is modelled on the iconic Bosco Verticale, a complex of two residential skyscrapers completed in 2014 in the Porta Nuova district of Milan, Italy's economic capital. Bosco Verticale's defining feature is its façade, which is covered in more than 90 plant species. It's one of the world's most celebrated reforestation projects and aims to increase the biodiversity of plant and animal species through vertical greening.

The Fynbos will be an equally ambitious architectural feat. The 24-storey building, comprising 689 apartments, will be covered in 1,200m2 of vertical gardens, including 30 indigenous tree species and 50 fynbos species.

The Fynbos, which has an estimated development cost of a hefty R1.2bn, is backed by Lurra Capital, a Swiss-based private capital investment firm. It has partnered with local architects TwentyEightZeroTwo and a team of botanists, landscapers and sustainability experts from Gardner Property Solutions and Urban Choreography.

Trees will be housed in precast planters that will be mechanically secured onto the building's façade with steel beams and cables. In addition, shrubs will be planted in fibreglass boxes integrated into the building's cantilevered and staggered balcony design.

Donovan Gillman, principal of Urban Choreography and the Fynbos's lead landscape architect, says there has understandably been scepticism about whether The Fynbos will be able to replicate the Bosco Verticale successfully. While some previous attempts to create vertical gardens in Cape Town have failed, Gillman is confident that The Fynbos will buck the trend.

"We have done extensive research to come up with solutions for every potential challenge," he says.

The Mother City's renowned southeaster is the biggest obstacle. So Gillman and his team looked to Table Mountain to guide their plant selection.

"We are using mostly trees and shrubs found on Table Mountain with a proven ability to withstand extreme wind and weather conditions," he says. To mitigate the risk of plants being uprooted or damaged, Gillman conducted several wind tests to ensure only the most resilient plant species were chosen.

As a further precaution, three restraint systems were developed to prevent trees from falling or being blown away. These include textile belts, used to anchor the root ball of the tree in its early life stages. Each tree is also fitted with three elastic belts attached to a retaining steel cable. This in turn is anchored to the balconies, which Gillman says is the main "fall-arrest" device for grown trees.

Other key challenges, especially in high-rise environments, are trees that grow too fast and root damage that results from too little or too much water. Gillman says a sophisticated AI-based monitoring system typically used in the agriculture sector will be adopted to control optimal moisture and nutrition levels. "The system will enable us to monitor the growth rate of plants and reduce the size of both trees and shrubs to proportions suited to the position on the building," he says.

For aesthetic purposes, planting will be done in colour bands based on the seasonal flowering times of different plant species. A triple backup water supply, including a recycled stormwater storage facility, will ensure optimal irrigation. Ongoing maintenance will happen externally via "flying" gardeners.

Besides its green façade, The Fynbos will boast a waterfall at the front reception of the building and an indoor atrium. Other features include a plant-based restaurant, a botanical bar, a rooftop terrace with a lap pool, a fitness centre and a coworking space.

Sustainable building solutions include rainwater harvesting, integrated solar PV panels to power common areas and a central heated water system.

The building is already proving popular, with about 50% of the 689 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments sold. Prices range from R1.15m (studio units of 24m2-40m2) to R7.68m (two-bedroom units up to 82m2). That translates into a roughly R48,000-R65,000 per square metre rate, which is notably more than the city centre's average R37,000/m2 for residential sales achieved in 2022 (latest CCID figures).

Clearly, buyers are willing to pay a premium to own a piece of what is expected to become the poster child for Cape Town's sustainable building movement. The Fynbos also offers high-end finishes, including solid hardwood floors and Smeg integrated kitchen appliances. Every apartment has a balcony.

Keith Anderson of DG Properties, who is responsible for residential sales at The Fynbos, says the development has achieved a steady flow of sales since mid-2023, which suggests buyers are "wholeheartedly embracing the arrival of biophilic design to our shores".

He adds: "The Fynbos will become a destination building of the future and a must-see for visitors to Cape Town."

For more information or guidance on The Fynbos visit www.thefynbos.com or contact Keith Anderson +27 83 540 5033 | Keagan James +27 82 902 8202.