The construction of The Fynbos building, Africa’s first biophilic infrastructure, is underway in Cape Town, South Africa, according to a Dogon Group estate agent.
The Fynbos building will have 24 storeys of mixed-use space including Cape Town’s first urban street art gallery. The gallery will include more than 1,000 works of art made by 120 artists from 30 different countries. In addition, the development will have an exterior covered in a 1,200 square meter vertical garden. The garden will be made up of 20 different species of shrubs and 30 different indigenous tree species.
Lurra Capital, the company that developed The Fynbos, reportedly held a street art competition and picked the best five, artists. The artists will be hired to paint murals on several floors of the building’s lift shaft.
The building’s development manager, Gardner Property Solutions, said that the Fynbos Street Art Campaign shows the effect and power of street art in urban areas. The Campaign was organized by the well-known street artists Christopher MacClements and Juma Mkwela.
What is needed for the development of The Fynbos?
According to Dogon developments head Paul Upton, the development of The Fynbos requires input from experts in a number of fields. These experts include botanists, architects, landscape architects, engineers, and sustainability experts. Upton said that the building will redefine inner city living in Cape Town, South Africa, and the entire continent of Africa.
In order to create a more productive and healthier constructed environment, biophilic structures make use of natural light, ventilation, landscape features, and other elements.
The innovative garden system at The Fynbos was created by a group of specialists and technical botany experts. It will involve a particular configuration of vegetation which will be supervised by a technical water and nutrient system. The system will have automated root scanners, and monitored water content and drainage. In addition, it will have flying gardeners that will handle maintenance externally.
The Fynbos will have several natural sustainability features built into it from the start since it is the first truly biophilic living building on the continent. It is currently working to receive Green Star certification from the Green Building Council South Africa, according to Upton.
Natural vegetation layers, along with exterior plantings that have a cooling effect to provide shade and screening, will provide climate control at the TwentyEightZeroTwo-designed development. In addition, low flow fittings, well-point filtration, and an advanced integrated rainwater harvesting system will all be used to improve the building’s water efficiency.
Moreover, large windows and glass sliding doors with specialized double glazing will let in a ton of natural light while viewing the expansive city and mountain views. The double glazing serves as a sound absorber and also lowers the amount of energy used for heating in the winter.
What will be the features of The Fynbos?
The Fynbos will include 689 apartments when it is completed. There will also be a ground-floor plant-based restaurant, a tearoom, and a bar. In addition, there will be a rooftop fitness center with a lap pool and working space.
Upton said that the apartments in this development are priced to cater to a wide range of customers. The luxurious studio units start at R999 000 and vary in size from 24 m2 to 40 square meters. Apartments with one bedroom on the other hand start at R1.6 million and vary in size from 34 to 58 square meters. Lastly, those with two bedrooms start at R4.9 million and can be as big as 82 square meters.
According to Dogon MD Alexa Horne, once The Fynbos is completed, it will be a living, breathing building that blurs the borders between nature and the built environment. She also said that the company has seen an increase in demand for apartments that are built with sustainability principles at their heart.
