grab incidents, and
vagrants living in the
bushes.
The client decided to
retain the small Butia
Palms (sometimes
known as Jelly Palms,
as the fruit can be made
into a sweet jelly) with
their recurving greyish
fronds and neat trunks.
Barnard commented
that the sculptural
beauty of these lay
in the significant
curvature of their
fronds. These palms
are slow growing,
tolerant of hot exposed
environments and
largely maintenance
free. Once the traffic
island had been cleared
and levelled, the
existing palms were
transplanted (with all
the leaves being cut
back during the move)
further away from the
edge and realigned
to accentuate the
triangular shape of the
island.
Another decision
that was made to
minimise maintenance
was the use of fairly
large segments of paving which did not connect with each other to form a continuous
pathway, so as to discourage pedestrian use. The sections of paving reduced the
planting area. Pavers of two different textures and colours were used – both supplied
by Infraset: Cottage Stone Sahara Sand and Craze-E Cobble Multiblend; while the edging
was Corobrik’s Burgundy clay paver. According to Barnard, the rhythm of the modules
of paving was conceived so as to tie in with the placement of the Butia palms. There is a
50/50 split between hard and soft landscaping.
The rubble from the clearing of the site, comprising broken concrete and stones, was
used to create soakaways (sumps lined with a geosynthetic) on the island, functioning
to harvest stormwater for infiltration into the ground. Barnard commended the
contractors, Bidvest, for their excellent work and testing to ensure that compaction
requirements were met. He said that no subsidence had occurred since the completion
of construction. He also made special mention of Bidvest’s, Moses Radebe, for the
42 africandesignmagazine.com