Wings in the city – Pretoria Country Club Bird Hide
As architects, landscape architects and urban designers, a project that combines the three disciplines was sought. The bird hide is an architectural structure that needs to become part of its surrounding landscape, a refuge within a refuge. The landscape forms the habitat for the birds, and is enhanced by specific planting and landscape design that sets the scene for observation.
Furthermore the project is about connecting people with urban green space, conservation and creating habitats within the city for all its inhabitants, weaving layers of nature and man-made environments together into a more sustainable, symbiotic whole. Suburban Pretoria is teeming with wildlife, we truly have nature on our doorstep. All we need is the facilities to access it.
The Pretoria Country Club is one of the oldest recreation areas in the city of Pretoria and was established on the hunting farm of Carl Jeppe in 1910. It has always been an urban refuge for fauna, offering a variety of habitats in and around the golf course and other sports fields. The grounds boast a large dam in the Waterkloof Spruit together with wetlands, grasslands and many groves of trees. Recent sightings on the grounds include the endangered Peregrine Falcon, Long crested eagle, bee-eaters, 3 types of kingfisher and nesting sites of thick billed weavers to name but a few.
This hide is a pilot project informed by specialists from BirdLife SA, designed to accommodate wheelchair users. It is a prototype with the further potential to be replicated in many places throughout our city in botanical gardens and parks, housing estates, conservation areas, university grounds and other sports clubs.
As a shelter the hide does not need to be 100% weather tight, affording us some design freedom. It is made up of a rigid steel frame, pre-manufactured and assembled on site with timber cladding and planted poles, gabions using local stone and mulch pathways provided by the golf course. The surrounding site is to be planted with berry-bearing shrubs and trees, seed bearing grasses that also provide building material for bird nests, a variety of flowers for nectar feeders, trees, stumps and other props to provide nesting sites, perches and an insect factory.
The roof consists of timber planks placed on their sides and nailed together, each rotating slightly to form a winged shape that is orientated so as to allow light in from the south while providing shade to the north and west accentuating the entrance.
A conservative building estimate with a construction time of two weeks and a basic schedule of quantities have been done and came to a total of R100 000,00. We hope to raise enough funds to start construction in July and we are in the process of talking to possible suppliers for preferential or discounted rates. All contributions and sponsorships are welcome and deposits can be made at the reception counter at PCC with specific reference to the BIRD HIDE.
If anyone is looking to sponsor a specific item, or there is a business that might be interested to make a corporate sponsorship as a marketing effort, please contact Almer du Pisanie of kwpCREATE at 012 343 9141 or 082 705 7512 or via e-mail almer@kwpcreate.com.
As part of the COOL CAPITAL design biennale (http://www.coolcapital.co.za/) held in Pretoria during the month of August the bird hide will form part of the itinerary in the Architectural Pavilions + Installations category. It will also form part of various exhibitions and publications.
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