Protea Eco

Protea Eco is a vision of design and earth consciousness development. The endeavour seeks to have the natural surroundings predetermine the design and structure of all housing and residential developments. This form of “passive” design is an effort to avoid intrusion of the land as much as possible so that a blend occurs instead. That blend is the beautiful landscape woven into the living and structured environment to instil a milieu of environmental well-being and ecological sensitivity.

Studio Bali is the current grand example and our featured project in Protea Eco. The building is situated in Northriding on a plot called Equestrian Estate; the plot is the basis for Protea Eco and will be divided into 4 freehold stands at approximately 2000m squared each. In implementing the design phase in terms of “passive” design the process entailed three aspects of design work to ensure a juxtaposition of the fall of the land and that of modern architectural design. The first aspect is a concern of the location of the stand. The stand seeks to accommodate two developments – a main house and cottage. The fall of the land is a key determiner here. The idea is of course to leave the land as untouched as possible, abstain from levelling of trees and avoid reshaping the grounds and vegetation. The second aspect relates to orientation. For the time being, Studio Bali is strategically set out to be North-facing in an effort to have natural heating to its major central aspects. The third aspect focuses on a sense of structured design not completely dominated by the land. Rather, to find the perfect balance between both in aesthetics and form and also in regard to ecological concern.

TWS Architects have thusly maintained their unique flair in modern contemporary design. By managing the site with care, they’ve produced a building of sharp and acute beauty, perfectly balanced in its natural surroundings, with all the necessary precautions to reduce carbon foot-print and maintain a “green” consciousness. Such precautions include alternatives for energy, alternatives for all water usage except human consumption and sewage maintenance. For the time being Studio Bali has been designed to have an infrastructural allowance for photovoltaic cells and complete solar energy usage; other future developments for Protea Eco will include all necessities for solar energy usage. Instead Studio Bali utilises all forms of low wattage in lights and household appliances. It does however embrace a solar geyser system as a fully working form of alternative energy.

Rammed earth is a technique in which soils harvested from the natural site are combined with a stabiliser and then placed into a template called a shutter. By doing this you create a good supporting wall which serves two fundamental benefits. The first benefit suggests that the soils naturally harvested and combined serve as an equivalent to the importing of processed materials which add to carbon-footprint – thereby reducing further carbon emissions. The second benefit is that rammed earth in its final state has notable thermal properties. It absorbs the heat of the sun and reflects it inwardly to warm the house. Such other designs used, like concrete screeds for flooring, also enable natural heating. Both techniques serve to instead add to aesthetic beauty rather than take it away. Strategically placed, much of the rammed earth can be seen on the North-facing side of the cottage, naturally to be exposed to as much sun as possible.

Studio Bali currently stands as an example of the prodigious endeavour of Protea Eco. That endeavour is to create a site of developments subordinate to the land, in perfect harmony rather than intrusion and to provide a sense of ecological sensitivity. Furthermore , to maintain the unique sense of design that is inherent in all developments of TWS architects -- not to detract too much from contemporary design, but to find that perfect balance.