PRECINCTS
Office buildings in the Sandton Gate sustainable precinct will target a minimum 4-star Green Star rating.
Boogertman and Partners
infrastructure installations and investment into community infrastructure such as the rehabilitation of the park, artistic water features and cycle path landscapes. In terms of environment, 75% of the development was previously-developed land, limiting its contribution to urban sprawl which contributes to environmental degradation. Its location along the major road of William Nicol Drive meant sustainable transport was a crucial element, as it was not desired to add more private cars to the daily rush hour traffic. Governance has been the most challenging category to address on this project, notes Mbele. Community participation and engagement have been key elements for Sandton Gate. Abland and Tiber focused on ensuring that their community was informed and involved throughout the development process, and committed to gathering the relevant resident associations. By setting up a stakeholder engagement strategy, the owners ensured that nearby residents' associations were informed, consulted with, and were collaborative partners on the development of the masterplan. This
The precinct rating tool forces professional teams to work with an urban environment as opposed to within the confines of a building and to make a sustainable difference at a much bigger scale. There is a definite need for planning that challenges the South African status quo that revolves around the car and to make the most of shared services. Claire Holton 58
was done through continuous public participation meetings over a period of nine months. Community is still a focal point within the development. Developers have made commitments for community-led associations to have the authority to manage the operation and maintenance of the park and other monthly cleaning-the-city programmes. This ensures that the community stays involved throughout the lifespan of the development.
THE BIGGER PICTURE “Working with the tool in the pilot phase has definitely been a complicated challenge. There have been a few things which needed tweaking for the local South African context and credit interpretation requests and technical clarifications, which we have had to work through with the GBCSA and also the GBC in Australia. But it has been a fantastic learning opportunity,” says Holton. Annelide Sherratt from Solid Green and AP for Sandton Gate, has also been involved in the development of the precinct certification system. She says: “Although the tool is in the pilot phase and this can be daunting in the beginning, let the joy and excitement of embarking on uncharted territory and making a difference on a large scale get the better of you. Keep your head down and get stuck into the manual and you will soon see the fruit of your work.” Manfred Braune, managing executive: sector development and transformation and executive director at the GBCSA adds: “The GBCSA is thrilled to have real projects testing the Green Star - Sustainable Precincts tool, and especially a diversity of projects in different places and different contexts by different professional teams. This helps to grow the understanding and uptake of the rating tool, and will ultimately increase its impact. There are a number of other exciting projects in the pipeline, not yet registered, that will further benefit from this tool and contribute to the lessons learnt. The GBCSA congratulates and thanks all those professionals who have committed to using the tool on their projects.”