Project Category: Landscape Architecture Project of the Year
Project Name: Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ)
Location & Context: Automotive Supplier Park, 30 Helium Road, Rosslyn EXT 2
Gauteng
Size: 20 000sqm
Timeline: May 2023 – March 2024
Built Cost: Landscape Value: R30mil
Teams Involved:
Developer: Coega Development Corporation;
Architects: Digit;
Engineers: Zutari (Civils) & IX (Electrical)
Irrigation Specialist: Controlled Irrigation
Furniture Manufacturer: Gallo Precast
Contractor: FSG Landscapes & MesMajor
Materials used:
* Stone / Gravel
* Precast Concrete Seating Bollards
* Steel Bus Shelters
* SmartStone Concrete Paving
* Gabion Benches with Concrete Coping / Seat
* Waterwise & Indigenous Soft Landscaping
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ) is Africa’s first automotive city, an industrial hub focused on growing South Africa’s automotive manufacturing industry located in Samcor Park, Pretoria.
The design approach focused on the following key functional aspects:
a) Low water usage Indigenous landscape
b) Planting types that are robust, frost and drought tolerant.
c) Socio – economic aspects of the project included does offer labour benefits i.e. job creation plus boosting the local economy. Challenges facing the design team was and it would prove difficult to create a ‘lush and full landscape experience’ in and an otherwise harsh industrial environment. With the focus on the effective use of contrasting natural materials, the idea was to create textural variances and organic land massing to enhance the user experience.
The precinct sidewalks are wide and inviting, and seating clusters occur frequently. The site is used 24 hours, and safety was paramount; it was necessary to ensure that the environment was user-friendly and functional from a pedestrian point of view.
The existing adjacent wetland and key environmental aspects included rehabilitation plus *An EIA was conducted for the project and one of its outcomes was compliance with an environmental management plan report (EMPr)” Hard landscape elements include gabion walls, natural boulders from site, custom bus shelters and custom pre-cast seating and bollards.
The client’s brief to Insite Landscape Architects was to create a landscape of international and world class standard. The challenge of the project was to create a striking and well-maintained landscape, one that performs well without regular or in-depth horticultural care.
