SA Affordable Housing November / December 2016 // Issue: 61 | Page 32

ADVERTORIAL

Aloe Ridge is the largest social housing project in Pietermaritzburg, constructed entirely of facebrick.

The first phase of occupancy is available from October
2016 when 210 units are released. Occupancy of the
remaining units will be staggered until mid-2017.
The R353-million project – contracted by Stefanutti Stocks
– has received funding from the Social Housing Regulatory
Authority, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Human
Settlements, National Housing Finance Corporation as well
as Msunduzi Housing Association.
Aloe Ridge, which will house an anticipated 4 000 people,
consists of 952 two-bedroom apartments in three-story
walk-ups separated into two villages. Of the 952 units,
287 will cater for households earning up to R3 500 per
month and the balance of 665 units will cater for
households earning up to R7 500 per month. Each unit,
which is about 45m2 in size, consists of an open-plan
kitchenette, lounge, bathroom and bedrooms. The site is
about 14 hectares in size, allowing for large, open spaces
and play areas for children.
This is one of South Africa’s biggest social housing
developments which has been constructed entirely of
facebrick, namely Corobrik’s range of Burnt Apricot
facebrick (3 800 000); Montana Travertine facebrick
(200 000); plaster bricks (3 965 000); as well as geolok
400 (10 000); and geolok 300 (10 000) for the retaining
walls. Corobrik also supplied 2 000m2 of pavers for the
walkways joining the various blocks as well as parking areas.
Originally the development was planned to be constructed
as a plaster and paint development. However, the efforts
of Corobrik’s Rob Jardine, who worked with Lumen
Govender and Aecom to demonstrate the benefits of a

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NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2016

AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING

"Essentially, we want to create
a more effective social housing
scheme by incorporating microcommunities and green spaces that
will evolve into a more pleasant
living environment."
facebrick development and the lifecycle costing versus
plaster and paint, swung the selection to facebrick.
Lumen Govender of Architechno – who worked in
association with Sandhu Architecture on the project –
explains the brickwork choice, “We wanted a product that
would prove to be both affordable in start-up and longterm costs. Corobrik’s facebrick range covers both criteria
as there are no future maintenance costs related to
plastering and painting.”
Govender says that, being a social housing project, the
drive is to keep costs down while providing quality
housing with aesthetic appeal. “The colour of the roof
sheeting, aluminium windows and external doors are
selected to blend into the colour of the Burnt Apricot
facebrick, which works well.”
Explaining the planning behind the design of Aloe Ridge,
Govender says the buildings were separated into two
villages in order to manage the scale and visual impact
more effectively.