Cape Town – The City of Cape Town is going green and using recycled building rubble and truck tyres to construct a new multipurpose centre at the Helderberg Nature Reserve.
In a statement released on Friday, mayoral committee member for spatial planning and environment Marian Nieuwoudt said the construction of the centre started in June and was due to be completed by June 2021.
The centre has a horse-shoe shape and faces the Helderberg mountain.
The Helderberg Nature Reserve is one of 21 nature reserves in the city metropole that protect and house rare fynbos and provide benefits to residents and visitors of Cape Town.
Nieuwoudt said some of the benefits include education, recreation, tourism, job creation and skills development.
“We are building this centre in one of the most beautiful settings in Cape Town. It is designed to be carbon-neutral, and the materials that we are using were carefully selected in an effort to respect this natural environment.
“The design is also informed by resource efficiency – the sustainable use of water and energy – as it is imperative that we consider our natural environment as we are building a resilient Cape Town that can withstand the impact of climate change,” Nieuwoudt said.
She said the centre will be fitted with a photovoltaic system to generate its own electricity and a water-recycling filtration system that will be linked to other existing infrastructure on the site.
The centre will facilitate environmental education programmes among various others and activities for visitors to the nature reserve.
“We are busy creating something special which will showcase sustainable building practices and contribute towards a greener and more sustainable structure.
“Leading by example, we want to inspire the private sector to also investigate alternative and greener building material, and to implement water- and energy-wise systems that will preserve our limited natural resources,” Nieuwoudt said.
She said another interesting aspect of the centre was the creation of a tyre wall built from recycled truck tyres filled with G5 earth material from demolished building sites.
She said these walls were compacted with sledgehammers to form a solid base.
“I’m really looking forward to the completion of this project and the day when we can open the centre to visitors,” Nieuwoudt added.
African News Agency (ANA)