African project
Belmond Eagle Island Lodge – Botswana
which face logistical challenges. “We like our developments to draw on their natural
surroundings for their styling, their craftsmanship and their building materials,”
explains Graeme Labe.
FTK Design & Development was contracted by Belmond Safaris to undertake the
role as the project lead consultant and to design the back-of-house buildings and
infrastructure for the Eagle Island Lodge refurbishment and rebuild project. “We
also provided extensive design and technical direction for the project by providing
all the information to the professional team,” says Labe. FTK Design & Development
prepared all the assessments on the infrastructure requirements for the lodge which
required them to work in tandem on the respective designs with the suppliers
and installers. This included a 208KW “off grid” solar plant, a water filtration and
treatment plant and a fire prevention system and plan.
With a bird’s eye-view of the entire project, FTK Design & Development managed
the procurement process and the logistics that included getting all the materials,
furniture and specialised items to site. There were many environmental factors that
had to be considered including getting the trucks to site through the floods during
the rainy season.
The works on the lodge started in March 2015 and was completed by year end 2015.
Prior to any construction taking place, a full Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) was undertaken which included complete Environmental and Archaeological
surveys of the site. The EIA also included an Environmental Management Plan (EMP)
which outlined a full schedule of sound environmental management practices.
To ensure that the refurbishment of EIL met the EMP and the ethos of Belmond
Safaris, all concrete structures on the lodge site had to be demolished. This decision
was in line with the Okavango Management Plan which requires that no permanent
structures exist in the Okavango Delta which has recently been declared a World
Heritage Site.
The consequence of this demolition required that the concrete rubble be removed
from the site and transported out of the Okavango Delta. In order to mitigate
the number of trucks running in and out of the site and causing damage to the
environment, a very disciplined practice of ensuring that each truck bringing in
new material for the rebuild was in turn loaded with rubble to be removed out of
the Okavango Delta. The rubble which has been removed and taken to Maun, was
crushed and reconstituted as hard core used for brick making and other building
activities in the Maun area. This same practice was enforced regarding the removal
of builders waste and offcuts out of the Delta in order to ensure that no building
waste was burnt on site.
During the construction period there were between 140 and 180 building crew
on site. A temporary workers camp was set up using a combination of tents and
containers. The containers were converted into bathroom facilities, offices, store
rooms and workshops. A temporary Sewerage Treatment Plant facility was also put
in place to assist in handling the volume of workers on site. Once the project was
completed these temporary facilities were removed and the site was rehabilitated.
Click here to read more about the technical details
of the design