Timber iQ October - November 2017 // Issue: 34 | Page 26

PROJECTS
The lapa hosted 1 500 people from all over the world.
Giving jazz fundis an
African experience
When Build Up's Dawid van der Berg had a tight deadline to
deliver a temporary thatch structure of 1 000m 2 , he saw it as an
opportunity to break new ground.
By Ntsako Khosa | All images courtesy Build Up
L
ocated in the central business district
(CBD) of Johannesburg, in Newtown,
jazz fundis from all over the world
gather to immerse themselves in the finest
music Africa has to offer at the jazz festival.
The client’s request was to have a truly
cultural African experience.
“They wanted thatch and it had to be good
for public use. It also had to be erected in a
similar fashion as you would erect a marquee
tent,” says Van der Berg. The structure was to
be used for three days for the jazz festival
and had to be dismantled afterwards. “We
erected it in nine days and cleared the site in
three days,” he says.
24 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2017 //
It was built on an international heritage site.