Helderberg Nature Reserve in Somerset West was visited by the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews, to see the newly built Helderberg Environmental Centre (HEC).
The setting of the reserve on the slopes of the Helderberg, overlooking False Bay, makes it an ideal location to teach communities in and around Somerset West about the Western Cape’s plant and animal kingdom and our impact. As such, staff at the reserve identified the need for an environmental education centre where school groups and visitors can be accommodated. The City’s aim with this facility is to ensure that alternative construction methods and sustainable design thinking was demonstrated in the building in order for it to function as extended environmental education tools in the centre once completed. Helderberg Nature Reserve is featured on the Cape Town Green Coastal Map
Construction of the centre commenced in June 2020 and the contractor is currently completing the final touches to the building. If all goes as planned, the project will be completed later this month.
Many of the conventional materials and methods used in the construction industry have a negative impact on the environment. They carry a high embodied energy, and water and waste footprint in their construction. The City decided to use this project as an opportunity to ensure that environmentally responsible material is used.
Helderberg Environmental Centre
‘The new Helderberg Environmental Centre is a magnificent building that I have personally been eager to see as I knew the project would provide a practical example of what a green City facility can look like. The centre is a successful case study of green construction methods that could benefit other new municipal facilities in the future. The material selection and construction techniques of this project increased the semi-skilled job opportunities for residents in the Helderberg area over the past 18 months, which resulted in 32 additional EPWP workers employed on site. These opportunities would not have been possible without implementing these green construction practices. This center provides the perfect setting for the various environmental education programmes the City’s nature reserves offer various schools and interest groups,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.
The design of this holistic sustainable facility considered a number of components such as:
• Waste
• Ecology
• Thermal impact
• Ground, waste and storm water impact
• Light pollution
• Reducing carbon emissions.
Some of the sustainability features of the new HEC includes the impressive tyre retaining wall; eco brick wall and the integrated water treatment system, which includes the four chamber underground Black Water Treatment System.
‘The Friends of Helderberg have watched with interest over the past 18 months as the new HEC has taken shape, using various eco-friendly building materials and methods and look forward to it being used and enjoyed as a multi-functional centre in the years ahead,’ said Mrs Penny Clifton-Smith, Chairperson of the Friends of Helderberg.
This new facility is situated close to the parking and entrance of the reserve. It hosts a stage and has a clip-on bedouin tent, which expands the covered usable area of the facility to accommodate larger functions.
The centre will be available for use from February 2022.
WHAT: Helderberg Environmental Centre
WHERE: Helderberg Nature Reserve, Verster Ave, Helderberg Nature Reserve, Cape Town, 7135
INFO: T 021 444 9744 | E helderbergnature.reserve@capetown.gov.za | Visit Friends of the Helderberg
PHOTO: Picture 1: (L-R) Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews; Roy Ernstzen, Head of Nature Conservation in the East District and Ashley Hemraj from City’s Urban Planning and Design (who formed part of the architectural team for this project).
