Ilana Steenkamp URBAN DESIGN + PLANNING + ARCHITECTURE

Jakupa Architects and Urban Designers in collaboration with Colab Concepts have worked to create alternative solutions to the BNG Subsidized Housing models used by the Department of Human Settlements to create more holistic living environments for beneficiaries.

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The project has produced 9 different typologies to fit on 5m to 6.5m wide sites ranging from Simplexes to Duplexes and Triplexes with multiple units per lot, creating variety in an urban form that has not previously been acheived within BNG Projects. 

The units are design to allow for incremental growth; while they meet the building standards for BNG Housing, the Council submission also approved additional future backyarders and infill, with serviced connections to the main unit installed, providing this opportunity for incremental growth for the residents. In the South African context, with high degrees of informality, it is anticipated that the spaces will soon be built.

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​An holistic approach to neighbourhood is taken to neighbourhood design. Houses do not exist in isolation, but form one part of the larger network of spaces that support resident. A network of distributed public spaces of a variety of scales connects the local streets. Spaces are carved out of neighbourhood blocks to make way for small courts and parks and units located along main streets are higher density and zoned for Local Business to encourage localised economic activity.