Décor & Design
Text & Image: Rina Smit
Decorating unleashes your creativity and the whole wonderful process can be great fun. It’s not just about keeping up with fashion and its many and varied cycles; it’s about making a home where both you and your family will always feel comfortable and happy. In decorating, a touch of bravado can reap huge rewards, yes rules are sometimes meant to be broken, or at the very least bent a little. Experimenting will give you a home that proclaims this is me and this is mine.
Text: Michelle Garforth-Venter
Images: Michael Maherry
Welcome to our Bio-Climatic Home
Why do it?
 With some extra effort on our part our homes can provide us with a space that connects us to the pleasures of the natural world, keeping us in touch with the seasons and providing our families with a buffer against our fast paced lives. Eco-friendly homes are cleaner, more cost effective and more fun. They use less, do more, last longer, support your local community and help you to connect with the natural world.  What makes an Eco Friendly home?  Eco-friendly can be defines as homes that consider the environment, our families and how it interacts with its surroundings, both immediate and farreaching. In practice an eco-friendly home is one that questions the traditions of conventional construction, asking how can we tread more lightly on our natural resources and do it better? R ay M
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1) NATURAL LIGHTING: Riaan & I made as many changes as possible in our current home, I refer to these changes as ‘green accessories’ that everyone can install in their homes, saving money and starting on the path to become eco-friendly planet dwellers, but addressing the insusualtion aspects of your home’s structure and architecture is vital, which is the prompt for Riaan & I to build a bio-climatic home from scratch. Our starting point was to find the right professionals that understood how to execute green building practices, and it is not good enough to just understand the concepts on paper, ask for his architectural resume and previous green building experience. Our choice was Anthony Papageorgiou Architects, who is a member of the SA Green building Council, to design a climatically responsive house broadly considering the sun, choice of materials, ventilation and recycling. We looked long and hard to find the best possible building company, and Accolade Construction, listed with the SA Green Building Council, were our choice. From clean building site practices, to local and environmentally sustainable materials to insulation knowledge on which suppliers can deliver what, is vital advice to have as you tackle your dream home. Keith Van Der Linde, the CEO of Accolade told me at the on-set of construction, “green building is about equal parts science and ethics, but mostly it is about
common sense!” Rooms that require a lot of sunlight and lighting should be given façade preference. Uninhabited rooms like bathrooms can be located on the interior of the building or in less light exposure positions. Your architect must consider the geometry of spaces, whereby deeper rooms require larger windows for daylight penetration, more so than shallow rooms. Vertical windows allow for more daylight than similar horizontal windows placed at the same height. 2) INSULATION Half of the energy consumed in the home is used for heating but with careful consultation with your architect a good design can half your heating costs. The best eco-option is solar panels, which will be discussed in detail later in this synopsis. Ask your architect to consider thermal mass which are the components of the building used to store heat in winter and coolness in summer so that savings can be made in the use of mechanical interventions needed to equalize day / night temperature fluctuations. Creepers and vegetation close to the envelope help increased the size and stability of the external air film adjacent to the outside walls increasing the home’s R-Values (thermal resistance).
We approached the company SAINT GOBAIN to assist with providing the materials for wall & floor insulation, and found the service and green knowledge to be extensive and all encompassing. Insulating your walls can reduce your heating bills by up to 30%, and while not an environmentally benign process, the resulting reduction in heat consumption and energy expenditure make it a good long-term option. The building of our bio-climatic home has ignited an exciting first in South Africa, with SWARTLAND
Window frames. Up till now, we South Africans could only buy double glazing windows framed in aluminum, but metal is a poor insulator. It is pointless having double glazing glass and insulated walls, floors and ceilings when heat is being conducted outwards through the metal window frames. Use as little wood as possible; use recycled timbre or make sure that the timbre you do use comes from an ethically managed plantation, which only releases timbre at the same rate, that it is being produced. Very
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innovative timbre alternatives are being developed today, such as composite wood made from reclaimed hardwood sawdust, and plastic formed from the plastic waste-stream. Riaan and I have chosen to go for roof trusses from MITEK made from recycled aluminum – we have chosen metal versus timbre roof trusses, as they are light gauge steel and require just one drive to site for delivery, plus the factory is near the site location reducing the carbon footprint of MITEK’s delivery. We have chosen face brick from COROBRIK – baked clay just like our forefathers were living in. And investigating the green practices of the company like rejuvenation of quarry sites, usage of rainwater catchment & recycling programmes in their factories to ethical employee practices. Delivery and packaging have been primary in Carbora’s green drive, by eliminating plastic to wrap the bricks in and rather just making use of simple box package straps. Which in Michelle Garforth-Venter’s world of conservation, comes with a red alert warning: please cut the ‘round’ shape of the plastic box package straps
on delivery before throwing away, as these package straps kill thousands of marine animals every year. The animals swim into the ‘round’ and as the animal grows the package strap will choke them, as they do not have hands to remove the noose from their necks. We have removed straps from sharks in KZN to seals in Alaska – a painful and prolonged death that can be avoided just by breaking the round shape of a box package strap. From a concrete perspective, LA FARGE is a company that are all about sustainability, which means surviving and thriving without damaging Mother Nature, being responsible thinkers in how we are using natural resources. La Farge cement is based on using fly-ash – which is a waste product from burning coal. And the ethic is to reduce their use of non-renewable resources, reduce carbon emissions during manufacture and cut back on what is being sent to landfill sites. Named on the list of Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the world, we have been really impressed with their commitment to changing the traditional way of construction.
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3) SOLAR PANNELING: There are 2 main ways of harnessing the sun’s energy and both options are available in South Africa: solar thermal panels absorb heat which is stored as hot water, and photovoltaic cell panels (PV’s) convert sunlight into electricity. Our bio-climatic home is entirely off the grid, and we will be installing both options through a company named SAFRELEC. We have provided a flat roof space on both the house and the garage, and will be planting veldt grass under all the panels to ensure they function at optimum productivity. If the panels are laid on a hot surface they are up to 35% less effective, hence growing a base that will absorb heat. A turf roof is the best insulation and this is one of the roofing finishes that will be highly encourage in the estate we are building at - Le Jardin. 4) ENERGY EFFICIENT LIGHT BULBS: Energy efficient bulbs have come a long way, they that have a very effective energy-saving shower head, we have installed them in the current home we are living in, and the shower heads have contributed to a monthly saving of around R600 on our current Eskom electricity bill. Another water enhancing trick is to build with permeable paving, the usage is preferable, as it will prevent huge run-off into municipal storm water systems, which are costly to expand and maintain. Rather allow the rainwater to naturally seep down to water-table level. We have made use of a permeable concrete mix for our drive-away (permeable has to do with the ratio / mix of cement), and the Estate will also be doing so in the primary thorough fares to ensure as little run-off and water wastage as possible.
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are green, clean and last up to 6,000 hours, and this is in comparison to 1,000 hours with an incandescent bulb. But whether you are choosing LED’s or CFL’s you will save a significant amount of money on your home energy bill. 5) WATER SAVING: Our inspiration has been born out of spending time in wild spaces and realising the Planet is in a desperate situation, we asked what we could do to make a difference. It has resulted in an entire revamp in our lifestyle and the building of a home. Riaan discovered a company in Cape Town, OXYGENICS
natural pond or pool that has a specialized filtration system that means we do not have to make use of any chlorine or salt chlorinators.
In our current space of domestic bliss we removed all thirsty exotic plants (and re-versioned them by donating to the complex gardens) and replaced them with an indigenous selection for the Gauteng region featuring drought resistant aloes and thorn trees, and it was amazing, within 24 hours, we had visiting birds, bees and butterflies! It was a conscious decision on our part to give biodiversity a helping hand and bring wildlife into our garden. All suburban gardens are an incredible haven and vital network for wildlife in major cities. We have provided nectar-rich flowers for insects and their larvae to feed on, and bark for insects to live in and lichens and mosses to grow on. A layer of leaves at the base of trees provides the perfect environment for slugs, snails and spiders – and the birds are grateful for their daily supplement feed of seed and fruit scraps.
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I am bursting with excitement of taking it one step further in our new home, and we are choosing to have only a single round patch of green grass for aesthetic jolt, with the majority garden planted with wild flowers and veldt grasses typical to the Muldersdrift area. A large vegetable garden, fruit trees and a drip irrigation system will also be included. The complex Le Jardin are making all pavements frog friendly by ensuring the pavements are low enough to hop up on, and in keeping with this we are going with open palisade fencing creating free-movement pathways so frogs can hop from garden to garden and not be restricted by sheer walls. We are also building a
6) GREY WATER, RAIN WATER & WORMS: Our bio-climatic home has both rainwater catchment systems & grey water recycling. A house with grey water systems will consume 50% potable water, and flow reducing valves on taps (6 liters per minute) and shower heads (9 liters per minute) can further reduce this amount. The instillation of water-saving toilets is also a pre-requisite when building new. Grey water piping comes from all our showers and washbasins and is processed through a BIOLYTIX system that employs thousands of composting worms to eat or recycle any hair or debris that will be present in the water. The worms act as filters and the water will be pumped for usage into the indigenous garden and for washing cars. Vermiculture: Worm composting is also known as vermiculture and worms are king in our home, not only working in the grey-water system but also working for the garden. The unlikely housemates provide essential garden and home services in return for their favourite meals of butternut and eggshells. Fresh food wastes like carrot tops and tomatoes ends are used in the wormery bins to generate a ‘liquid gold’ – worm pee to spray over your vegetable and herb garden, lessening the need for pesticides. Not just any worms are used; Red Wrigglers or Kariba worms are the preferred composter species.
The role players for décor and interior design of the Love & Mortar home: Caroline de Freitas, Sublime Interiors Owner of Sublime Interiors, Caroline de Freitas, achieved her higher diploma in Interior Design from the Calder School of Interior Design and has been in the industry since 2001. Sublime Interiors has a signature style that comes through in all the projects they undertake, always working on the brief supplied by the client with the end result reflecting not only the client’s lifestyle but personality as well.
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imported, a large number of the items are only completed once in South Africa – the frames for the chairs arrive without upholstery and stains and these pieces are completed according to the client’s specification – again all pieces chosen were manufactured in Johannesburg reducing the carbon footprint of the piece. Fabrics chosen are also the better choice, going for natural silks (silk being a renewable resource) and leather. High Thorn Each product is hand-made by a group of men and women in Pietermarizburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The employees at High Thorn are encouraged to take responsibility for each order that is allocated to them and we hope that this responsibility will transcend into their daily lives. A team of previously disadvantaged women who are usually the sole providers for their families does the beadwork. Why we picked High Thorn: The items selected from High Thorn are not only truly African, but make use of natural materials such as leather and invader wood. Through these pieces we have been able to give back to a community and empower people. Milk Deco – contemporary furniture and décor for the nursery or children’s room. Milk Deco strives on its designs being unique and in line with international standards. We want to create unique nurseries that are baby friendly, affordable and that parents enjoy as well, since they spent so much time in these rooms. All art by Shiyloh Art and Elsa Portwig. Vinyls in study and baby bathroom by Gin & Chocolate. All players and pieces have been selected in accordance with the following criteria: · Sustainability · Use of renewable or recyclable materials. RM Contact Milk Deco – Baby Room Candice Brophy Phone: +27 82 855 2925 Email: info@milkdeco.co.za Website: www.milkdeco.co.za Elsa Portwig - Artist Phone: +27 83 716 2703 Email: porta@telkomsa.net Aurelio - ID8 Email: info@cmarch.co.za Tel: +27 11 622-6130 Fax: +27 11 622-6187 Website:www.cmarch.co.za; http://www.id8.co.za/ Setsebi Productions, Melinda Smith Email: Melinda@ezinkulu.com or Tel: +27 11 023 9101/2/3/4 Fax: +27 086 295 5603 MICHELLE GARFORTH-VENTER www.michellegarforth.com RIAAN GARFORTH-VENTER www.nutsman.co.za e8 ssu
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Will van der Watt, Ideate (ID8) Interior Design Will and ID8 have designed a selection of contemporary and custom furniture for the Love & Mortar home in conjunction with Caroline de Freitas to showcase both Riaan and Michelle’s unique styles and passions. Why we picked ID8: Green thinking is about looking at the ‘cradle to grave’ history of the product – ID8 manufacture in Johannesburg, reducing the distance that the pieces have had to travel to the home, in turn reducing the carbon footprint of the piece of furniture – ID8 also specializes in Bamboo and Steel. Bamboo is a renewable resource and steel is recyclable. All glues used on the furniture are formaldehyde free and all stains are water based. Block and Chisel The store offers a high-gloss, lacquered look with opulent chandeliers, lamps with crystals and Venetian mirrors, suited perfectly for your lavish and charismatic lifestyle. Block and Chisel invite you to come and experience this stores’ sensational products and fabulous ambience, and be inspired to create lots of charm and interest in your own space. Block and Chisel are supplying some of the French Provençal pieces that will give this home’s French Provençal feel. Why we picked Block and Chisel: Block and Chisel work with reclaimed furniture, as well as pieces that are beautifully manufactured that will last you a lifetime. Again, distance that the furniture has had to travel has been taken into account, and all pieces were manufactured in Johannesburg thus reducing the carbon footprint of the pieces chosen for the home. Peter JA Stuart: Nearly all our Italian manufacturers purchase their timber requirements from forests that adhere to the international code of Sustainable Forestry. Materials are also recyclable and or biodegradable wherever possible. Why we picked Peter JA Stuart: Although some items in the Peter JA Stuart are
Court Classique Suite Hotel, Pretoria has just gotten a whole lot classier! The multi-award winning, fourstar Court Classique Suite Hotel, Pretoria is proud to announce that the R4.5million upgrade of the property complete. In order to further enhance guest experience, safety & security the property has been revamping various aspects. Completed projects include: • The launch of Orange Restaurant & Wine Cellar. • A R100 000 investment into a state-of-the-art security system, with a number of additional cameras installed in key areas of the property; and
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A R400 000 investment in the repainting and maintenance of the exterior of the property. This was a 12 week process, which was completed in December 2009. A R4.3 million investment into a complete refurbishment of all 58 suites and public areas including conference facilities - in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The overall quality of our guests’ in-suite experience has been enhanced by: • repainting the interior of all suites; • the replacement of air-conditioning systems; • replacement of carpets; • replacement of curtains; • replacement of all linen with the Chrysalis brand. We are part of the retail program and our guests will now be able to purchase this exquisite linen to take home; • installation of Sony 40’ and 32’ flat screen television sets; • installation of international multi wall plugs in all suites; • upgrading of our fire detection system, to a system that offers wireless smoke detection throughout the property and in all suites; • upgrading of the guest amenity range for all suite types; • stocking each suite with an iron & ironing
board set; refurbishing existing quality furniture pieces; and displaying contemporary artworks by a local artist in all suites. Lastly, all suite entry doors will receive electronic keycard access upgrades before the end of the year.
The Court Classique Suite Hotel, Pretoria looks forward to welcoming guests in the same unrivalled class as we have always done - with a fresh coat of care. International guests travelling on the country’s luxury trains will benefit from our free transfer service within the city that includes the departure stations of the Blue Train and Rovos Rail. The hotel is located within an easy 45min transfer from OR Tambo International airport, offering the perfect stop-over destination for travelers arriving into Gauteng and planning to travel through to the Kruger Park, Pilansberg or other attractions within the region.
Orange Restaurant & Wine Cellar is a brand new addition to the Pretoria social scene. Established in 1997 on-site at the Court Classique Suite Hotel, Orange is the definitive business venue. Patrons are treated to free Wi-Fi, use of the business centre at the Court Classique, free parking within hotel grounds and complimentary biltong & nuts with sundowners. The tranquil gardens and resident ducks add to a laidback, yet private setting. The interior of Orange & ambience of can be described as up-market, yet cozy. Bright orange & dark-wood chairs, blue mosaic tiled pillars and terracotta floors are complimented by picture windows, a fire-place and both an in-door & out-door patio. Paintings by local artist Frans Groenewald adorn the walls and fresh, elegant flowers are placed on each table. The underground cellar can house up to 1000 bottles of wine and is the perfect venue for private function with a group size of 20 -40 guests. Orange now caters for weddings, year-end functions or birthdays and there are always special menus for special days, such as Valentine’s-, Mother’s- or Father’s Day. In addition, there is an order-out platter service, which is perfect for board meetings or office parties. Due to the property’s close proximity to Loftus Versfeld, Orange becomes the perfect pre- and post match venue for the discerning sports enthusiast. British-born Executive, Chef, Gordon Reynolds, fuses his international experience with local ingredients and traditional recipes to bring a touch of the delectable to every meal. Join Gordon and his team for some Classique cuisine when you are next in Pretoria, looking for a local, up-market and elegant dining experience.