Concept to Delivery
June 2019
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LEADER
DESIGN, BUILD, AND MAINTAIN
Welcome to our June edition of Pro Landscaper Africa. and rooftop sporting facilities, we have it all! Our Architect’s Journal this month looks at the Eyethu Hout Bay Skate Park in Cape Town and then we catch up with Nathan Iyer to discuss just how he went about designing the landscape of Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
W
elcome to the June issue of Pro Landscaper Africa. We had a wonderful time at the SAGIC Convention and SALI Awards of Excellence hosted at Arabella Golf Course and are so looking forward to featuring all the award winners in our up-coming July issue. We have quite a bit on the go at the moment, with our FutureScape Africa 2019 Trade Show in the works. Look out for the launching of our FutureScape 2019 website in an up-coming Friday Wrap newsletter with dates, seminar programmes and more! The June issue is one which we are very excited about, It’s all about Sports. From stadiums, courts, fields and golf courses, to urban parks
We have two featured projects in this issue, the first by Trompie Group and the second by Insite Landscape Architect’s in association with Turftech. These are two excellent projects where pitches have been installed to impeccable standards. Speaking of standards, we then speak with Alasdair Cox, Facilities and Quality Programme Manager at the FIH, to hear all about new developments in hockey turf, standards and FIH requirements. Boogertman + Partners’ Alasdair Forsyth gives us the ins and outs of designing the rooftop sporting facility at Discovery Head Office and then Controlled Irrigation’s Gareth Manson shares with us his expertise on sports turf, water management and irrigation for the sports scene. We have two fantastic interviews this month, Peter Matkovich, and Jeff Lawrence. Two
industry icons who are incredibly well known and respected in golf architecture. We are truly thrilled to have them both between our pages this month. Our project section looks at brilliant international and local sporting spaces, with 5 diverse and impressive sporting facilities from around the world. We close off the issue with a segment titled “Let’s Talk Turf” where we chat to three of Servest’s turf guru’s on Stadium Turf Maintenance, Golf Course Maintenance and the best equipment for the job! We are so looking forward to the months ahead and to connecting our industry further! Enjoy the read.
@ProLandscaperAfrica
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LANDSCAPE & GOLF COURSE design - construction - maintenance
Website: www.golfdata.co.za - Email: reception@golfdata.co.za
CONTENTS
27
42
12
8
News Update & Association News Industry news from around South Africa
10
Architect’s Journal Eyethu Hout Bay Skate Park: Lawden Holmes
FEATURES
56
52
27
30 Minutes with Peter Matkovich It is a wonderful honour to interview Peter Matkovich, renowned player, golf architect and director of Matkovich Group.
32
An Interview with Jeff Lawrence Jeff is the Senior Designer and Vice President of Gary Player Design. Jeff is also a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
12-13
Designing Moses Mabhida A perspective by Nathan Iyer
15
Pitch Perfect Pro Landscaper catches up with Alastair Cox, Facilities & Quality Programme Manager at the Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH) to hear all about new developments in artificial turf.
36
Leopard Creek: National junior development centre at Leopard Creek & Leopard Creek Golf Course renovation by Golf Data
42
Generation Schools Imhoff: Pioneering Play by Earthworks Landscape Architects
16
Featured Project: Trompie Group St. Michael’s School for Girls
48
Cloud Town : The Cloud Town International Convention & Exhibition Centre by Approach Design
52
Urban Renewal by LATZ+PARTNER
56
Community Sports Park by desert INK
18 Discovery Boogertman+Partners’ Alasdair Forsyth on Designing the sporting facility on Discovery Head Office’s rooftop. 21
Sports Irrigation Gareth Manson, Exports Design & Sales Manager for Controlled Irrigation, shares his know-how on sports turf, water management and irrigation for the sports scene
23
Featured Project: Insite Landscape Architects in association with Turftech Westbury Sports Precinct Phase 1
PORTFOLIOS
NURTURE 59
Let’s Talk Turf Pro Landscaper catches up with Servest’s turf guru’s, Danie Oosthuizen, specialising in Stadium Turf Care, Mark van der Linde, whose specialities lie in Golf Course Turf Care and Henry Duncan, who outlines top pieces of equipment across both realms.
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CONTRIBUTORS
MEET THE CONTIBUTORS ALASDAIR FORSYTH
Associate Director Boogertman+Partners
Alasdair Forsyth has been with renowned firm Boogertman + Partners for five years. He graduated in 2003 from Wits and previously worked for firms in the urban design realm. Although it was great to work at that large scale, this Alasdair agrees has helped him through the Discovery Head Office project, the pace of urban design is slower in its implementation. He had worked on some great smaller scale buildings, but wanted to get into bigger architectural work, which worked out well too! He is now associate director and the Discovery building has been a good project in terms of moving up the ladder. He has been involved from the get-go with the original concept design, all the way up until what ultimately became the building.
LAWDEN HOLMES
Architect at Vivid Architects
Lawden Holmes is a Professional Architect with a Masters in architecture from UCT. He currently works at Vivid Architects. Lawden’s experience ranges from the public to private sector and includes healthcare, educational and medium to large scale commercial projects. He has won numerous student competitions locally and internationally. In his spare time, Lawden co-founded a community initiative called the Eyethu Hout Bay Skate Park, where, together with the Rotary club and his team are in the process of constructing a public skate park for Hout Bay's youth. This is the first model of its kind where a public space is privately developed on city owned land. The initiative seeks to provide a much needed safe public space for the integration of three divided communities in the centre of Hout Bay. He is hoping this project becomes a template for future grass root communities’ to develop their own public spaces. The space focuses on youth development and community cohesion.
SILKE METZLER
Senior Associate at LATZ+PARTNER Kranzberg, Germany
Silke Metzler has been working with LATZ+PARTNER since 2008 and is in charge of the public relations and the business development. Her wide spectrum of tasks includes the management of applications (including VgV—awarding of contracts for professional services), and the compilation of reference material. Silke’s strong communication and organizational skills led her to develop the Latz+Partner’ Bad Places and Oases exhibition in Berlin in 2008. Prior to joining Latz+Partner, she worked as a freelance graphic designer and landscape architect. Silke gained her Diploma in Landscape Architecture from the Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences in 2006.
NATHAN IYER Director at IYER
Nathan is an Urban Designer, founding member and principal partner of IYER Planning, Urban Design, Architecture and Landscape Architecture. This is an awardwinning design practice. It has a proud history of planning sustainable city regions, delivering inspired public spaces and designing buildings with a pulse that remains timeless and true to both people and place. Nathan has been involved in the development field for over the last 20 years and has been the lead urban designer on several large-scale urban development projects within South Africa such as the Point Waterfront project, the Bridge City New Town Centre and the urban design of the renowned 2010 Moses Mabhida Stadium & Precinct. Nathan is the lead urban designer for a Mega Project in South Africa known as Cornubia and is also the lead urban designer for Sibaya which is a new sustainable urbanism community being developed by the private sector in Durban.
JEFF LAWRENCE
Senior Designer/ Vice President of Gary Player Design.
Jeff Lawrence has produced numerous award- winning projects both domestically and internationally. Twenty-five years in design business has offered him the unique opportunity to work alongside some great golf course architects of our time such as Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Fazio. Jeff is currently working with Mr. Player on projects in the United States, the Middle East, Central America, and Europe. His in-depth Knowledge of technical aspects of golf course design combined with his creative flair helps support Mr. Player’s vision around the world, providing unique, sustainable and quality golf experiences. Jeff is also a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA).
PETER MATKOVICH,
Director of Matkovich Group, Renowned Golfer and Golf Architect
Peter Matkovich grew up in Shabani (Zimbabwe), playing at Shabani Golf Club, an 18-hole course owned by the local mine. He played many of the magnificent courses in the area, all owned by the mines and became a competitive amateur golfer. He turned professional in 1968 and played in Europe for three years, Australia for a year and the Sunshine Tour for over ten years. He played in two open Championship: Carnoustie in 1968 and St Andrews in 1970. In 1973, Peter and his family moved to South Africa and moved to Umhlali Country Club, where he fulfilled the role of club professional, playing professional and course superintendent. Peter took on the job of designing and building new holes and redesigning many of the existing holes. The new course opened in 1975 and was Peter’s first foray into designing and building golf courses – an experience that was to ‘open many doors’ in the future. In the years that followed, Peter completed more than 20 world-class golf courses and renovated more than 20 other, cementing him as one of the leading designers in Southern Africa.
NEWS
NEWS CMASA Club Management Association of Southern Africa (CMASA) is the representative body for the Recreation and Sports Club sector in South Africa. CMASA offers members access to information on international and local best practice material relating to the management of their clubs, as well as seen as the preferred partner in education, training, resources and recruitment solutions for the club industry. Whether club managers come from a business background or are developing their careers within the industry, the right education can provide each individual with the learning resources they need to do this job, often plugging gaps in their knowledge, so they can
better understand the broad range of issues that affect the day-to-day management of a club in the ever-changing global environment. CMASA hosted three highly successful Governance/ Leadership Workshops in the past few months. The workshops were hosted in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal in March and in the Western Cape in May. Presented by Paul Leishman, CCM and General Manager of Bryanston Country Club, he shared his extensive knowledge with delegates on this topic, using best practice examples from his years in the club industry. A healthy relationship between committee and club management is imperative in order to ensure a club is successful. It requires that all parties have clarity of roles and responsibilities and follow through on them.
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Key Take Away Notes from the Governance/ Leadership Workshop; • • • • • • • •
Board Dynamics & Best Practices Strategic Planning General Manager/COO Concept Communication New Board and Committee Member Orientation Processes What makes a good Board Member? Board Evaluation Importance of Benchmarking
www.clubmanagement.co.za
TGMASA The Turfgrass Managers Association of Southern Africa (TGMASA), are encouraging people from all walks of life to consider the opportunity of becoming a Sports Turf Manager by completing a Correspondence education programme that will give you the required Knowledge and tools to set your career off to a flourishing start in the Industry of Sports Turf Maintenance.
This workshop focused on the experience and skills needed by both board/committee members and management for best practice in leading within the Club Industry. From feedback received, the delegates found great value in the content.
as, the professional maintenance of natural grass Sports Turf Surfaces worldwide has become a skilled profession due to the high demand for top quality playing surfaces. In South Africa, there is a shortage of individuals with the necessary technical and practical skills working within the industry or wanting to enter the industry. So here is your opportunity to complete your studies through the Turfgrass Managers Association of Southern Africa. Their training programmes are being delivered to existing Sports Turf employees, as well as targeting individuals who wish to enter the industry. Turfgrass management has now become a multi-skilled discipline. A Turf Manager may be part scientist, environmentalist, horticulturist, personnel manager, instructor, meteorologist and
accountant. Turfgrass Managers and groundsmen are no longer merely keepers of greens and fields, but managers of all open spaces and of budgets running into millions of Rand's. • •
•
Course: 1 - 10 Week Correspondence Programme; Sports Turf Maintenance. Course: 2 - 12 Week Correspondence Programme; Advanced Sports Turf Maintenance. Course: 3 - 12 Week Correspondence Programme; Superintendent Supervisory Management.
The TGMASA are in the Final Stages of completing a 1-year Correspondence; TGMASA NATIONAL CERTIFICATE in Sports Turf Maintenance. individual membership is available to any person looking to join the World of Turfgrass Management. www.tgmasa.co.za
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ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
ARCHITECTS JOURNAL:
Eyethu Hout Bay Skate Park We catch up with Lawden Holmes, Architect & Project Co-ordinator, to tell us all about this venture, set to bring a sense of community to the residents of Hout Bay.
The Eyethu Hout Bay Skate Park is a 960sqm community-driven and community-designed skate park, situated at the gateway of Hout Bay and at the confluence point of various neighbourhoods, coming together for use of the social amenities. Developed at the core of a larger public space that includes a multi-purpose sport field, a community hall and a future public park, stitched together by a pedestrian walkway that links these amenities. The skate park offers a unique opportunity for social integration to be fostered amongst its diverse user groups that spearheaded the project whilst an ever-growing skate community persisted. This guaranteed a success to the project at its inception, knowing that the delivery of a public space would have community buy-in and ownership from a social perspective. This skate park community and skate leaders come from three neighbourhoods scattered 10
Pro Landscaper Africa | June 2019
across Hout Bay. The settlement named Imizamo Yethu is adjacent to the skate park, Hangberg is located across the bay, and the Valley is nestled at the center of Hout Bay. Notably these three neighbourhoods are unparalleled to one another, when considering their cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. However, the youth of these three neighbourhoods share a common interest for the love of skating and have fostered incredibly unprejudiced friendships over the years. Together the voluntary skate park community created an interim park design used as a proposal pitched to the City of Cape Town (CoCT), with the assistance of our partnered PBO, the Hout Bay Rotary Club, who jumped on board during the project inception. The City applauded the initiative to take the youth off the streets and provide a much needed safe environment where the youth could not only practice their desired sport but also participate in a broader life-skills training opportunity that will be created once the park is built.
As such, the location of the skate park was equally important for the space to function well and safely. This became a negotiation with the City, to provide us with land located near an already functioning 'community hub' that needed additional types of activity. This was to ensure the convivial nature of the public space would be used by all and survive. The design was done through a process of community participation workshops with the leading skaters. This approach ensured that there were no lines of collision amongst users, as well designing areas of opportunity for varying levels of skating progression. Apart from other skate parks, the design lends itself to interactive spectatorship whereby the architect proposed wide, raised and flat platforms adjacent to the ramps, for people to gather, learn, observe and cheer each other on, whilst skating. With the site being situated on a marsh land, the design had various challenges to consider, www.prolandscaper.co.za
ARCHITECTS JOURNAL
the park had to be raised by 500mm above the natural ground level. Additionally, a retaining wall was required that accommodating the fill and rubble which would be compacted and shaped into the design of the various ramps. The shaped and compacted fill acts as a permanent formwork which the steel and reinforcing mesh is bent to fit within. Thereafter, the dry-mixed concrete is cast over the reinforcing and worked with a steel trowel to achieve a smooth finish. We added polypropylene fibres to our ready-mix concrete which enhances the durability and prevents shrinkage and cracks. Including a specialist ramp subcontractor in the design - whom used to be a professional skater himself - allowed for a certain amount of flexibility to the park configuration. During the build, on-site changes were able to be made for the improvement and ‘skate-ability’ of the various obstacles as a result. Continuing with the ethos of community www.prolandscaper.co.za
participation, the local skaters were invited to site meetings to discuss the ergonomics of the various obstacles and offer comment on the desired design. The key design idea was to have a concrete skin draped over the shaped terrain, with expressed steel edging on all sharp corners. We bermed soil up against the retaining walls on the outside of the park to respond well to the external environment.
skatepark, or can simply offer a moment to rest and pause within the public space.
As such, a landscaping plan was a necessity for this skatepark to not only soften the edges of a concrete skate park but ensure the relationship between other public amenities, its users, its spectators and the neighbouring watercourse. The relationship with Disa River is a good example of where structure and hard landscape merge with natural ecologies in supporting indigenous plants of the region along this parks edge. The entrance of the skatepark and walkway towards the sports field cater for pedestrians, spectators and functions as a meandering walkway with an opportunity to explore the gently-sloping landscaped embankment and
We have set tremendous strides in shaping the relationship between the City and publicled projects, creating a process of public and private partnerships that includes community ownership and participation efforts. Most importantly, this skate park will be used as a space for youth development programmes once the space is fully functional and running. All through the means of this wonderful unconventional sport!
Upon reflection of the skate park’s progress thus far, Eyethu Skate Park is not ‘just a park’, the benefits will be twofold. Firstly, the project offers a great unprecedented approach for other local communities to follow – when driving and leading their own public spaces.
Pro Landscaper Africa | June 2019
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F E AT U R E
Designing Moses Mabhida
Nathan Iyer The Moses Mabhida Stadium and Precinct implemented as part of South Africa’s 2010 World Cup programme, makes a valuable contribution to the body of Urban Design
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Pro Landscaper Africa | June 2019
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F E AT U R E The Moses Mabhida Stadium and Precinct implemented as part of South Africa’s 2010 World Cup programme, makes a valuable contribution to the body of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture practice, within both the national and international contexts. The project demonstrates how large scale sporting infrastructure such as stadia can be integrated into a cities fabric - (physical + social), contribute to the development of a broader precinct, and deliver beyond its scope in creating purposeful Public Space. In 2011, the project was the recipient of the Institute of Landscape Architecture Award for Excellence in Design and the President’s Award, which is the highest award conferred. The citation by the awards panel suggested, “the Moses Mabhida Stadium Precinct sets a precedent for retrained design which complements a world-class sporting icon” and noted that “its designers have been confident enough to provide generous open space, and demonstrate a fitting restraint in detailing and material. The result is a bold and sophisticated setting for a stadium with a contemporary, world class feel” Pro Landscaper Africa approached Nathan Iyer, of IYER, who was the lead Urban Designer for the project, to share some insights into the design thinking that shaped this award winning project. Nathan writes… At the outset it was very clear for us that a building of this stature, and the development impetus of the world cup represented an un-precedented moment in the making of our city, that had to be harnessed to the fullest. We were driven by, with what would become an ‘obsession’, that is, ensuring the building delivered beyond the scope of the facility itself to make a very real and formidable contribution to public place making and locating this facility within a manner that led to the overall precinct development. The project brief called specifically for the new stadium to become an “Icon‟ for Durban. The design team put forward an argument that there should be a wider understanding of the concept of Icon that extended beyond the new building itself. Conceptually we put forward the notion that a well-considered and design Public Space could equally become Iconic and emphasis was placed on understanding the combination of object and “space‟ as the basis of the design. www.prolandscaper.co.za
An extract of the competition vision statement serves as an important reminder of one of our primary objectives; “An Icon in the context of Durban must be understood to represent more than an object or building...it must be a place, a spirit, a memory." In meeting this broader design agenda, the following principles and design objectives informed the urban design for the precinct. GENERATIVE The stadium must be within a framework that enables broader city and precinct level benefits. The extent of investment that such a project brings to the precinct requires that the stadium serves as a catalyst for ongoing investment. The primary starting point therefore was the need to design beyond the building – which is certainty noteworthy for future large scale sports infrastructure. VISION BASED An overall vision that adequately addresses immediate needs (those relating to 2010), but also identifies for a longer term development framework broader than the immediate precinct. Identifying a development process that is long term vision driven, yet grounded in present realities, was a primary point of departure. SYMBOLISM Establish a new symbol for the city and region, however providing a symbol which goes beyond the physical, reinforces the need for an approach that places the project within a broader precinct and which extends the uses and functions provided for. ICONIC The project brief calls for the development of a stadium that is “iconic‟. Through innovative design, the ability for a building to become a landmark and form part of the memorability of the city is a key objective for design. Equally however, ensuring that the project is a symbol for people requires that the definition of what constitutes an icon in the context of Africa and contemporary global society be re-evaluated. SUSTAINABILITY A key underlying driver for development is the need to ensure that the project is sustainable. A clear early objective was to ensure multifunctional use providing for ongoing activity which has been achieved through an active base to the stadium ensuring that the building meets the city at the street level, so to speak, in a responsive and active manner.
The Urban Design and Landscape Design of the Moses Mabhida Stadium and Precinct is noteworthy and offer potential lessons for similar projects include: The design is deeply rooted in a concern with ensuring that the stadium initiative as an investment extended beyond the 2010 event and was firmly placed within a broader City Logic. The design allows for the ongoing integration of the stadium and precinct with the broader city and coastal corridor. The design was guided by an overall Urban Design Framework, which enabled the initiative to have a strong Legacy dimension to it, which is clearly evident today with the active use of the precinct outside of events. The creation of accessible, well made, and generous Public Space system forms an essential part of the overall design. The highest level of Publicness has been achieved in the design and the stadium continues to serve as a meeting and event space for the people of Durban. It is noteworthy that in many ways the extent of space dedicated to the public far outstrips that which is held under “private or ticketed use areas”. From a design point of view, the Urban Landscape is based on a Contemporary approach to landscape design executed at a scale which has merit in its own right. The continuity of approach, aesthetic, materials and response to local place and function is noteworthy. Lastly, A key success of the design is the establishment of Systems – ecological, public space, city structure, movement. In adopting a broader view, the urban design and landscape design of the Moses Mabhida ensures that the benefits continue beyond 2010 leaving a lasting legacy for the current and future residents of Durban. QUICK FACTS: Design awarded to Ibhola Lethu Consortium in 2006 with construction commencing in 2006 and completed in 2010. Cost of R3,1 Billion with R 153 million spent on immediate surrounding precinct, including People’s Park. Design needed to accommodate flexible seating capacity - 54 000 permanent seats but with an additional 31 000 temporary seats, for a maximum capacity of 85 000.
Pro Landscaper Africa | June 2019
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F E AT U R E
Pitch Perfect Pro Landscaper catches up with Alastair Cox, Facilities & Quality Programme Manager at the Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH), to find out all about the requirements for an FIH accredited pitch, new developments and all about Hockey Turf and Field Standards.
A new hockey field is an important investment and it is therefore essential that it meets the expectations of hockey players, associations and clubs. To help ensure good quality fields are built for all levels of play, from elite level competition to community development, the FIH has developed its Hockey Turf and Field Standards and its internationally recognised quality-assurance programme - the FIH Quality Programme for Hockey Turf. The programme provides consistent and dependable industry standards and ensures the appropriate quality of performance for the intended level of play - whether it is community development, international competition, or anything in between. Recognising that different levels of the game and different funding options exist around the world, the FIH has encouraged the development of a range of different Hockey Turfs to provide solutions for as many markets as possible. Choosing the right hockey turf can be difficult; the surface needs to provide the performance required by the players, offer adequate protection to minimise the risk of injury and withstand the damaging effects of use and the climate so it lasts a realistic period of time. To assist in the selection of the right products, the FIH recognises and endorses quality-approved products offered by FIH Preferred Suppliers and Certified Manufacturers. Tested for over www.prolandscaper.co.za
forty different properties, only those hockey turf products that fully comply are awarded the prestigious FIH Approved Product designation and listed on the FIH website at www.fih.ch/ hockeyturf. The field of play on all 11 a-side hockey pitches measure 91.40m by 55.00m with run-offs that should always comply with the FIH minimum recommendations (3m at either end and 2m on either side) and ideally have FIH recommended run-offs of 5m at each end and 3m on each side. For Hockey 5s and other forms of small-sided hockey the rules are generally more relaxed. Since the London Olympics in 2012 hockey has seen the increasing use of blue fields and this is now the FIH’s preferred colour for all venues hosting televised tournaments. For community fields, green or blue is still quite acceptable, and an increasing range of colours are being used for the perimeter margins on these fields. Perimeter logos are increasingly being seen and, in some markets, logos with the field of play are accepted, although player feedback is mixed. Line markings should be white, unless hockey is a secondary sport on a multi-sport field. With the growth of synthetic turf fields and increasing global awareness of the need to adopt ed by contractors with a proven ability to build good quality hockey pitches. This is why the FIH also has a programme of certification for
field builders and encourages the use of FIH Certified Field Builders and FIH Preferred Suppliers (when acting as a main contractor), whenever possible. The FIH Quality Programme for Hockey Turf also includes the certification of hockey fields (at all levels of use). Field Certification includes a comprehensive series of performance, construction and quality control checks to ensure manufacturing and installation mistakes do not go undetected. Sustainable Environmental Policies: The Hockey Turf and Field Standards make provision for reusing existing shockpads when a field is being resurfaced. As however, the performance of the playing surface is a combination of the shockpad and hockey turf, it is very important that the suitability of an existing shockpad is determined at the early stage of a project and the FIH Standards define how this should be done. Selecting an FIH Approved hockey turf does not ensure a good field if the product is poorly installed or laid on a badly built base. It is therefore equally important that fields are designed correctly and install. www.fih.ch
Pro Landscaper Africa | June 2019
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F E AT U R E
ST MICHAEL'S
School for Girls Before
St Michael’s is the oldest girls’ school North of the Orange River and was founded by Bishop Webb in 1874. It is a renowned school, with the vision to promote the development of independent, skilled and confident young women! St Michaels, whilst upgrading their sporting facilities, put out a tender for a turnkey Hockey Pitch to FIH standards. Trompie Group stepped up to the challenge and were successful in their bid. The Brief Trompie Group, because of their turnkey nature and many years of experience were commissioned after a successful bid in a tender process meeting the strict criteria. The client wanted a world class wet base artificial turf facility for field hockey for the school, and needed to adhere to FIH (Fédération Inernationale de Hockey) Standards. Irrigation: Small flags were initially used for sprinkler placement and to indicate pipe locations. Trenches were dug via TLB/Skidsteer. Pipes were then layed and connected to the supply line. Shockpad installation A specilised paver machine was used to install the shockpad as per the FIH requirements. Artificial Turf The artificial turf, carpet adhesive and all materials were delivered to site and unloaded with a specialised forklift. They were then transported with artificial turf carriers to the pitch, moved into position and unrolled. 16
Pro Landscaper Africa | June 2019
Each carpet was then trimmed and seamed together with approved adhesive and all line markings not already tufted into the carpet were cut into the carpet using specialist tools prior to the carpets being glued. Sourcing Materials Dewald Murray, the QS and Office Manager at Trompie Group is well versed, after many years in this position, to source products for each site their team works on. Bloemfontein, unlike some other remote sites, is a major city, so Dewald was able to source materials required with ease. Trompie Group is made of various divisions, including Trompie Logistics and Trompie Plant Hire which allows the team to move and source everything required giving them a great advantage. Trompie Group was the main supplier to the project ranging from transport to plant hire and even skilled labour. The project consists of various specialist phases from bulk civil works, drainage systems, building e-layers, fencing, laying the carpet and cutting and seeming it, erecting FIH approved lights and building a dugout. The Group also have an exclusive agreement with a renowned international company to import the FIH Approved Carpet which in turn, puts Trompie at the forefront as market leaders. The turnkey approach by Trompie Group assures the client a single source of contact, communication, and accountability.
Equipment Required for this build: Tipper truck • TLB • Generator • Excavator • Skid Steer • Trenching Attachments • Grader
SUPPLIERS Lighting: Philips Floodlights - 011 471 5000 Paving Cem Brick - 051 433 4479 Fencing Manufactured by Trompie Irrigation/Drainage System Designed & Installed by Trompie Group Product: Hunter
ABOUT TROMPIE GROUP Trompie Group had modest beginnings, starting in 1990: a single owneroperated farming business situated on the banks of the Mooi River in Potchefstroom. Soon thereafter, business opportunities and circumstances necessitated the formation of an additional company and Trompie Group was born. Today, Trompie Group consists of multiple companies including Trompie Sport, Trompie Green, Trompie Logistics, Trompie Plant Hire, Trompie Farming and more.
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BUILDING WORLD CLASS NATURAL & ARTIFICIAL SPORTS FIELDS SINCE 1990
HOCKEY SOCCER/ RUGBY COURTS TURNKEY
WWW.TROMPIEGROUP.CO.ZA
F E AT U R E
Discovery
Pro Landscaper catches up with Alasdair Forsyth, Associate Director of Boogertman + Partners to find out all about the rooftop gym that is home to the Discovery Head Office.
The idea of a landscaped roof is not a new one, and it usually ties to a larger concept of replacing the ground plane that the building covers. As the benefits of a balanced approach to work and exercise have become more recognised, corporates have begun to embrace the opportunity to create an interactive external environment that is directly accessible to their employees. Very rarely though, is this concept so closely aligned with the core values of the company that inhabit’s the building that the realisation of such an environment becomes part of an architectural expression of these values. This was the case at 1 Discovery Place. Early on in the design process Boogertman+Partners realised that the roof could be more than landscaped terraces, it had the potential to become the “Vitality” level, an interwoven series of activity spaces that linked back to the staff gym that would be located on the 8th floor. The large floorplate meant that these elements could be significantly sized, and the building’s undulating profile ensured that the 18
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external environment could be accessed directly from the upper office levels, creating a seamless interface. Designed for the supporter – Discovery’s employees The Vitality level and gym is only available to Discovery employees. It is the mechanism by which the company is able to “walk the talk” off it’s own value system by ensuring that it’s community has access to the necessary amenities to live a balanced and healthy lifestyle. This community are Discovery’s biggest “supporters” and the brief resolved itself around the activities they most wanted to be able to enjoy in their new building. The facilities are: 620m running track – this runs around the perimeter of the floorplate, offering views across the city. The track undulates in elevation, with the biggest single slope elevating more than 8m as it traverses from level 8 to level 10. •
Hard surface multicourt - this can accommodate basketball, football, netball and volleyball
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Football court – a second separate court just for football with simulated grass turf
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Yoga/aerobics areas – these were for different activities as necessary, located away from the courts
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Warm up/warm down zones
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Landscaped walking paths- these mender through indigenous planted areas
Built for the game A key consideration in the design of the roof was how we dealt with stormwater. It was a requirement of the municipality that we attenuate water on site. The attenuation strategy developed by the engineers included holding water on the roof in a layer of no fines (porous) concrete. This no fines layer sat over the waterproofing and screed to fall. All of the external amenities were then built over this layer, meaning that the stormwater is dealt with below the exposed surfaces. Strategically positioned channels, typically against planter edges, allow water that runs along the surface material to drain into the no fines layer. Planters also became mechanisms for absorbing and www.prolandscaper.co.za
F E AT U R E
draining water into the no fines. Where possible, porous materials were used to further assist in drainage of the water to the no fines layer. Building on the roof also meant we had limited selection of options in terms of executing some of the elements, as weight was always a consideration. Over and above that, there were also restrictions in terms of what the facilities management team would reasonably be able to maintain given the difficulties of access to the roof for large equipment in the future.
aware, a first in the country – certainly at this scale. Internationally we are seeing that this is becoming part of the offering of mega corporates, but never is it so integrated with the fundamental goals of the company.
Alasdair Forsyth
As Discovery continues to operate and evolve within it’s new home, it will be interesting to track what changes the integration of active and corporate environment bring about in terms of the communities interaction with one another, productivity within the company and wellbeing overall.
Thus some of the more undulating portions of the running track were competed using a composite lightweight bondeck slab system, over which the running track material was laid. From our experience at Soccer City, we knew real turf was not an option for the soccer court, given the depth of planting and level of maintenance required. Thus a synthetic turf system was installed that simulated the feel of real grass. The multicourt was executed using the Bergo “Multisport” tile. This is an interlocking UV stable polypropylene tile that is perforated for drainage. Once interlocked it creates a rigid surface, but has the benefit of being a modular system that can be replaced one tile at a time wherever damage may occur. It also ensures good drainage and visibility of the sub-surface. All plants on the roof are indigenous. The roof concept evolved as we grew to understand the nature of Discovery as a company. As part of the design process, however, the developer sponsored a tour of Australian “green” buildings in 2014 where we visited some best practice examples to get a sense of what the international trends were. The NAB building in Melbourne (designed by Woods Bagot) showed us we were on the right path; it has a fantastic external roof area that integrates with the floorplate on that level. Although it didn’t have the sports facilities, it confirmed for us the potential of what we were doing, and that we could take the idea to the next level. Maintained for the legacy In the South African context, Discovery and the developers, Growthpoint and Zenprop, recognised that this building was the opportunity to push the limits of what one should expect from a corporate head office. The integration of a sports centred activity space intertwined with a planted roofscape is, as far as we are
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Pro Landscaper Africa | June 2019
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SPORTS IRRIGATION
Gareth Manson, Exports Design & Sales Manager for Controlled Irrigation, shares his know-how on sports turf, water management and irrigation for the sports scene.
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here are few sites as pleasing as a lush green playing surface, ready to accept the challenges of the game, be it golf, rugby or any other sporting arena... But, and this is a big but, given the current water difficulties around South Africa, the industry needs a shift in thinking. Sports fields must have water, but the cost of watering them is becoming difficult for both grounds’ maintenance budgets and in terms of water availability. Water is the critical life blood of any-and-all sporting grounds. Turfgrass sports fields require irrigation to maintain the playing surfaces and help them stand up to the pounding they get from the game played. Synthetic turf fields (astroturf) require less water than their natural counterparts for cleaning and cooling, but they do require water never the less. Building sports fields that can be irrigated efficiently and drain promptly is a science. Building them so they disperse, capture, store and reuse the water that nature provides them, is an art! The Irrigation industry as a whole has been working over many years on innovative ways to www.prolandscaper.co.za
keep the grass green. While finding ways to save water, power and maximize the overall efficiency of the system provided. Controlled Irrigation partners with Rain Bird, adopting I.U.O.W - Intelligent Use of Water. This is used through innovative designs that are tailored to the client’s exact needs. We utilise the latest in irrigation technology to maximize the efficiency of the system, using the least amount of water to get the best playing surface. Monitoring Sports Surfaces The monitoring of the sports surface can now be done with infield water sensors, these relay in real-time, the water moisture content in the ground. This allows for the exact amount of irrigation to be applied, taking into account the changing of weather factors. This can equate to between 30-60 % water savings over standard time-based systems. With the advent of wifi and cell phone technology, many controllers can now operate in the cloud. This allows them to receive data from external weather sources and adjust run times to re-apply only the water that has been removed from the sports surfaces by the weather elements. Just 3 years ago this
could only be done by having a weather station on site at a cost of R 100 000 +. With the latest water saving technologies becoming a lot more affordable and easier to use, it is now possible to have these retrofitted into existing systems. At the coal face or sprinkler head in our case, the water savings carry on. With rain curtain technology built into the nozzles; the water distribution is now better than ever. This allows greater DU & CU (Distribution Uniformity and Co-efficient of Uniformity). What this means is that the water that we apply from the nozzle, covers the given area better and displays more uniformly across the full nozzle length. This reduces the run times required, and in turn, the water required to apply the perfect amount of water to the field. Along with the new innovation in irrigation technologies, there has also been great improvement in water reclamation. This has allowed us to capture and reuse water from numerous sources. This re-use of water is reducing the impact on clean water supply and helping get rid of unwanted water that was previously just thrown away.
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F E AT U R E
Irrigation Method Certainly, one can water a portion of any field or golf course by hand, with a traveler, or even with a portable pipe system. However, seldom can you apply water often enough with these methods and it is impossible to supply the water uniformly with the human element. Both the traveler and portable pipe systems offer an advantage over hand watering, but because of the human factors involved there will be time constraints as well as possibility of human error. An automatic pop-up irrigation system is certainly the most convenient method, and, it allows the best uniformity when watering. The small pop-up sprinklers designed for sports fields are not a hazard to players and they are easily repaired. The automatic clock can regulate watering for any time of the day or night not dependent on human involvement. This is a major benefit to this system, water and labour savings can often offset the initial capital cost.
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With water savings now being at the forefront of modern irrigation design, we also use target irrigation on golf courses and sports fields. This allows for the spray heads to be set to water, only the critical high -profile elements of the course or field. With smart management of these automated systems being incorporated in nearly every new design, the grass has never looked greener and never used less water.!
2.
Reduce surface hardness caused by heavy field use. Even with good grass, a hard surface will cause increased problems with shin splints, and increased risk of shoulder and knee injuries. Keeping the field somewhat moist (not extremely wet) will greatly reduce these issues.
3.
Cool the surface. The surface of a dry pitch may reach temperatures well above 49°c during hot, late-summer days. The same, well-irrigated turf may only reach a temperature of 30-35°c. This certainly reduces stress upon players relative to heat exhaustion, fatigue, etc.
4.
Wet an infield or baselines prior to the game to reduce dust and improve traction. Soil type will dictate the amount needed to provide a firm but soft surface that will not dust or blow. Being able to apply water just hours before a game is often necessary.
Irrigation in Sporting Facilities is more than just supplying water to improve turf growth. Some handy and important uses are: 1.
Irrigate an entire field after making application of a soluble farm-type fertilizer. The cheap, farm-type fertilizer can cause foliar burn to the turf if applied during hot weather. Irrigation after application minimizes the problem and helps the fertilizer to begin feeding the turf immediately.
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F E AT U R E
Size: 20 000 m2 Landscape Value: R9 million Timeline of Development: 13 -14 Months Location: Johannesburg Phase 1 Client: Johannesburg Development Agency
WESTBURY SPORTS PRECINCT The R10 million upgrading of the Union Stadium by the Johannesburg Development Agency on behalf of the City of Johannesburg has completed phase 1 and is set to drastically improve the Westbury Precinct and aid in attracting private sector investment. The full upgrade sees the design and construction of two new soccer pitches, netball courts, volleyball courts and football fields. This is all key to providing opportunities for social interaction and imperative in catering for different sporting codes such as soccer, hockey, cricket, volleyball and aerobics. These sporting codes will also contribute in empowering and motivating youth and sports fanatics to participate in sport, keep healthy and improving their lifestyles. This precinct has been identified by the City of Johannesburg as one of the main precincts on the Empire Perth Corridor. Theo Bredell, project Landscape Architect and Director at Insite Landscape Architects and Phillip Prinsloo, Sales Manager at Turftech, to talk us through Phase 1 of this re-imagined precinct. www.prolandscaper.co.za
Westbury Sports Precinct is situated just west of the Johannesburg CBD. The project area is specifically targeted at increasing social cohesion, especially youth development in a community that has high levels of unemployment. The project site was constructed on what was previously a dump site. Site Context General improvement in the area (commissioned by JDA) includes sidewalk upgrades, street furniture, traffic control measures and street tree planting. Westbury Sports Precinct phase 1 was commissioned by Department of Sports and Recreation but delivery was through Infrastructure Development Gauteng Province (GDID) as Developing agent. Insite was appointed as Landscape Architect under the IKG-Group (Indigo Kulani Group) being the Principal Agents, QS, Project Manager and Architect. The project brief included a community and public sports facility that provides the following:
Theo Bredell
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F E AT U R E
The Brief: The project brief from the client included development of a Large multi-faceted community centre and Sports Precinct Masterplan with Phase 1 development including the following activities: • • • • • •
FIFA standard Artificial Turf Soccer Field (60 x 100m) x1 Five -a-side soccer play areas x2 Multi-purpose-court x1 Spectator stands x2 Lawn and irrigation Construction of Male and Female Ablutions
The project included informal seating areas on sculpted mounds and also an informal parking area with guard house for security and access control purposes. Site Challenges: • Compaction challenges on the old dumpsite (ash and rubble 200-400mm, below ground level up to 1500-2500mm deep) • Vandal- and protest prone area. Due to regular unrest, the project program and normal progress was delayed. • Tight project timelines and project delivery dates • Long lead time for artificial turf (international shipping of the imported product) • Long lead time on municipal connections on both stormwater, sewer, municipal water, and power supply Project execution and timelines Expectations for project delivery were for February 2019 and meant that most of the specialist work was due for completion before mid-December 2018. Turftech under careful
guidance and control of TTK Projects (main contractor) managed to procure the artificial turf 12-16 weeks prior to installation which was impressive. Material from Europe arrived in South Africa and port in November 2018. ALl was on site by the 3rd of December 2018. Installation was very rapid and close to 90% of the project completion was achieved by 22 December 2018. Following heavy summer rains during the first few months of 2019 the final finishing on the ablution, spectator grand stand and site services could continue. Finally, irrigation turf valve systems and instant kikuyu lawn were planted to finish off a truly great project delivery. Theo Bredell explains, “Overall this was quite demanding and technically one of the most challenging projects of my career, but also possibly one of the most rewarding. It is always wonderful to work with a competent team and project consultants who persevere, a client who is patient and contracting team that demonstrated great leadership and strength of character.” Turftech: Turftech was approached by the Project Team as leaders in the industry to assist with design and ultimately install an artificial multipurpose facility to accommodate both Hockey & Soccer on the same surface. The allocated area was 6000m² in total, which could be used for multipurpose spaces where children can play and mingle during the day. The Turf Tech team opted for the Rhino Turf VT32 product with Recticel Prefab Shock pad, as this has been approved by FIH & FIFA meeting both sporting codes requirements.
There were also 2 x 5 A Side pitches that needed to be constructed, that will allow the community to improve their soccer skills. The design covered the following aspects, Base, Levels, drainage, fencing, paving and all details. Turftech was also involved with the irrigation & grass planting of the surrounds and all landscaping installation. The Site was not without its challenges as there were many obstacles and the space to work in onsite was very confined with heavy rainfall during this time of the year. The brief was to empower the local community and focus on skills development and only to bring in a small % of skilled staff from Turftech. This of course had its limitations, but also helped with job creation within the community so at the end of the day, was rewarding to the team. MEET THE TEAM Principal Agents, QS, Project Manager and Architect Indigo Kulani Group - 086 111 2221 Main Contractors: TTK Projects - 076 199 4243 Multipurpose Sports Field: Turftech - 087 087 4168 Civil, Structural and Electrical Engineers: Bigen Africa engineers - 012 842 8700 Multi-Purpose Courts Contractors: Proten Surfaces - 072 120 7753 Paving: Bosun brick - 010 001 8398 Stormwater grid inlets: StonCor Africa - 011 254 5500 ABOUT TURFTECH Turftech (Pty) Ltd offer a turnkey solution and are specialists in the design, construction, development and maintenance of sport facilities including both natural and synthetic fields for soccer, rugby and hockey fields as well as for cricket and synthetic running tracks. Turftech also build’s traditional hard courts or synthetic turf courts to accommodate tennis, hockey, basketball and netball on same court. Turftech together with their turf partners, Rhino-Turf, have brought the latest technology of turf products to the sporting market in South Africa and have successfully installed many artificial sport pitches throughout SA, now having the most FIH certified fields in the country with 6 x FIH National (sand dressed) certified fields and another 2 x FIH Global (water based) certified fields.
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Natural Turf Synthetic Turf Rugby Soccer Multi-Sport Tennis Cricket New Sports Fields Reconstruction Maintenance
Leader in Natural & Synthetic Turf Technology 81 First Avenue, Bredell, Kempton Park, 1619 Telephone: +27 (0)87 087 4168 Email: info@turftech.co.za
www.turftech.co.za
Turftech is a proud partner of Rhino-Turf an international leader in sports artificial turf systems.
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INTERVIEW
30 Minutes with Peter Matkovich
It is a wonderful honour to catch up with Peter Matkovich, renowned player, golf architect and director of Matkovich Group. Peter Matkovich grew up in Shabani (Zimbabwe), playing at Shabani Golf Club, an 18-hole course owned by the local mine. He played many of the magnificent courses in the area, all owned by the mines, and became a competitive amateur golfer. www.prolandscaper.co.za
He turned professional in 1968 and played in Europe for three years, Australia for a year and the Sunshine Tour for over ten years. He played in two open Championships: Carnoustie in 1968 and St Andrews in 1970. In 1973, Peter and his family moved to South Africa and moved to the Umhlali Country Club, where he fulfilled the role of club professional, playing professional and course superintendent. Peter took on the job of designing and building new holes and redesigning many of the existing holes. The new course opened in 1975 and was Peter’s first foray into designing and building golf courses – an experience that was to ‘open many doors’ in the future. In the years that followed, Peter completed more than 20 world-class golf courses and renovated more than 20 others, cementing him as one of the leading designers in Southern Africa. Peter Matkovich is responsible for the design of Arabella Golf Course, ranked highly amidst golfers and home to the 2019 SAGIC Convention and SALI Awards of Excellence. Pro Landscaper Africa | June 2019
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INTERVIEW
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INTERVIEW
What, in your opinion, makes a great golf course? There are several factors that allow you to design a golf course. For me, the most important thing for the architect, is time. You cannot visit a site once or twice, sign your name to it and take credit! A golf course, takes time. Firstly, the architect needs to spend this time on site – walking and getting a feel and an understanding of the natural features of the site. Only with time on site do you develop a feel for the best green sites and the most natural holes. With time you develop a feel for the way the course should flow on and through the site. Showing off its best features and utilising the site in a manner which gives you the best possible course, while also the optimum development space. After that, a great course also demands time on site from the architect and his construction team - you require a great team to put that design into the ground. The construction team also requires time and, quite importantly, a great understanding for your design principles in the detail of the work to be done. This time on site between the different team members, as well as “experience- built time” is what helps to create the desired end product. When an architect is willing to give his undivided attention, this shows his love and dedication for his work. He has to be on site for many days, getting to know it, listening to how it wants to be played on and developing a plan with full knowledge of the intricacies of the site. How many hectares of land are needed to design an 18-hole course? In general, the sizing of uninterrupted land would need to be between 50 – 80 hectares with no housing. However, land between 100 – 120 hectares is what you’re ideally looking for. Today, there are different types of courses, in comparison to the past – with limited land, water, time and budgets, there is a greater willingness from developers to look at 9-hole courses and “executive” courses, which have more short holes (par 3), with limited number of par 4 and 5 holes. It is very seldom that a golf course will be built on its own – new courses are usually part of larger developments, which would typically include a residential or resort/hotel component, together with other lifestyle elements and land uses. Combined with sometimes restrictive environmental constraints, the ideal land for www.prolandscaper.co.za
the golf course might also be the ideal land for the best housing component – most times it is a process of negotiation and “give and take” to achieve the best possible golf course while also creating the best value development land. In a few cases this means that parts of the golf course need to occupy and add value to some “less ideal” land on a site, in order to create more development value – the course needs to sell the housing around it - allowing the overall development to be more feasible and sustainable. To what extent does the site dictate the architecture? Everything! Today, you very seldom find the perfect land for a golf course as in the case of the original portions of “links” land as found on the coastlines of Scotland, Ireland and England. The architect’s skill comes in where he sometimes needs to create something out of nothing, and make golf holes fit and blend into the surrounding landscape. Anyone can design one golf hole, on the most scenic area of a site, but a golf course (typically) consists of 18 holes, and often times, due to surrounding development or due to the nature of the site, you need to fit in one or two “link” holes, where you connect some obvious and scenic holes to the next, in order to create a balanced and flowing course routing. These holes still need to be playable and enjoyable, and provide their own challenge and character. So, in short – for us the site totally dictates the design and the architecture. Sadly, today with big budgets and big named architects (and generally we all have big egos…) this is not always the case. When you work with the land, and understand the land - like my design principle “Listen to the Land”, the site determines the type of course and the layout. We don’t try to simply put down holes in the ground on a golf course that don’t belong. That’s one of the major reasons I dislike “signature holes”. Similar to when they say “we are going to reproduce a hole” - the perfect example is the 12th hole at Augusta – a lot of people have tried to, and to my knowledge, no one has gotten it right, because there are so many contributing factors that influence it all. How does your course address aspects like: "Playability, Width, Strategy, Naturalness" and all of the key ingredients that go into a successful course? The design is often at the wish of the owner. If the owner or developer decides on a championship or resort golf course, then that’s exactly what you have to produce. As the architect, you will have to explain the importance
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INTERVIEW
of the playability, which is critical for the enjoyment of all golfers. Everything else comes under strategy. You cannot look at one item such as “width” of hole on its own, without understanding the context and aim of every hole, and the resulting shots required to play the hole. Everything must vary, depending on what hole you are designing. There are no fixes or regulations determining the size of a green or width of a fairway. The strategy and design of every hole within the greater course would influence and determine those individual aspects – sometimes a longer tougher hole needs a more generous and friendly fairway or green, whereas a shorter hole might place a greater premium on accuracy, with a narrower fariway or a tougher, smaller green. And of course, it must be natural - as we said in the beginning “Listen to the Land”. Unfortunately, most don’t. Tell us about the golf green’s and their importance- and the importance of the putting green? What makes these spaces unique? Let’s start with the putting green at the clubhouse, which is the practice site. It is important because golfers have an opportunity to get to know the feel and the speed of the grass on the greens. It obviously also provides a practice area where players can practice their putting, hopefully on a green that resembles the greens on the course, both in feel and speed. The actual greens on the golf course, on each hole, must be designed to fit that specific hole - it has been written that if the golf hole is the body, then the green would be the “face” of the hole.
I have also said, that on the green, all golfers are equal – golfers from all shapes and sizes, whether they are strong or athletic or none of the above, they all face the same challenge, where length or accuracy off the tee do not necessarily provide certain players an advantage. On the putting green, more important skills would be the player’s ability to read the line of the putt, and his feel and judgement of pace. Every green can also provide the players a different challenge – some would be bigger, and some would be smaller. Some might have more “movement” with more severe or subtle slopes and breaks, and some might be relatively “easy” and “flatter”. Which is the most intricate hole you have ever designed? Everyone hole is as intricate as the next, because you are faced with the challenge of a piece of untouched ground. Now you have to put a golf hole on it. If each hole is not treated as equally important; you are certainly headed for disaster. But if I can recall, probably the most challenging and most expensive hole to build was the 12th hole at Ebotse. Here we created a par 5 hole within a previous quarry void, which is now a lake. Bunkers/ Hazards/ Dams etc. and where to place them? What they mean for the game, and how one goes about designing these spaces or placing these hazards on the course? For me, it’s that you have to bring golf back into golf design. Now, what’s happening is that there is a growing challenge of getting people to come
to your golf course or to buy property on the golf course. People basically want postcard holes! Each course has different and unique character – this is obviously influenced by the natural site – some sites have natural ponds or lakes and others would feel completely unnatural if you were to force any ponds or lakes onto them. The same for bunkering; some areas are naturally sandier, and others might have other natural “hazards” such as trees or a certain type of vegetation, which reduces the need for “designed” hazards. As with most other aspects in course design, the placement of hazards also needs time and balance; all hazards on the course can’t typically only challenge a certain level of golfer, or punish a certain type of shot, such as missing short right. It is also unfair to place most bunkers in similar positions around greens – we often see it on courses, where all the trouble is positioned short of the green, basically forcing golfers to fly balls onto the green and penalising any shot missing short, again it is better to design each hole’s strategy and playability to provide an overall balanced course, where hazards are in different positions on different holes, providing a fun and playable course for the beginner and club golfer, while the elite player might have to play more demanding shots over or around or close to hazards, and take on the risk, in order to be able to score well. Who is the most famous player, or player with the best handicap to play on your course? This is not a question I like answering, because to me, the most famous player on a golf course is the average and every day club golfer that plays on my golf course. When he has finished playing and turns around and says, “I cannot wait to come back to this course to play again,” then I have done my job. As for the best handicap, same as above, our courses are designed to be enjoyed by the club golfer and the top professional alike, and that is the beauty of golf, isn’t it! Players can play from different tees, courses can be set up to accommodate better or the more average golfers, and every day is a new day on the course; different conditions, different weather, different course!
What’s new to course design is big budgets and big machinery that can move mountains. Both these items don’t belong in my design. For us, it is totally about keeping it unique, original and showing the love that was put into it by its every detail.
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INTERVIEW
An Intervew with Jeff Lawrence
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INTERVIEW
Pro Landscaper Interviews, Jeff Lawrence, Senior Designer/ Vice President of Gary Player Design and member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects. His design experience is based on a well-founded design career, producing numerous award-winning projects both domestically and internationally. Twenty-five years in the design business has offered him the unique opportunity to work alongside some of the greatest golf course architects of our time. Jeff is a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects.
Who has been your biggest Role Model / Mentor and why? I have been very fortunate to have worked with three amazing golf course architects; Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Fazio during my design career. They all have been very instrumental in helping me grow as an architect over the last 30 years. I began my design career with Jack Nicklaus where I learned the fundamentals of building and designing quality golf courses. Working with the Nicklaus team and other industry professionals allowed me to fully understand the requirements and details to design and build quality golf courses. It’s these fundamentals that set the standards for furthering my design career. Being a Design Associate for Tom Fazio was a learning experience. This opportunity allowed me to be more involved in providing design input on several dynamic projects. Working with Tom and other team members challenged me to expand my design vision and creativity, allowing me to fully understand how all the elements of design, construction, strategy and visual aesthetics creatively interact to produce world-class golf courses. My longest and current tenure is with Gary Player Design, 14 years. What an amazing experience. Traveling the world designing golf courses with Mr. Player has truly been special. As a Senior Designer for Gary Player Design, working with Mr. Player has allowed me to really expand my design knowledge. Marc Player, our CEO has given me the latitude and trusted me to take the lead on projects that have produced several award-winning designs throughout the world. Mr. Player and I have a great working relationship that allows us to respectfully interact to each other’s opinions and collectively www.prolandscaper.co.za
formulate the best way forward for each project. He has taught me many valuable lessons, both from a golf perspective as well as life in general. Without the vested interest of those who have helped me along the way, I would not be where I am today, so let’s start by saying, I am very grateful. This is a loaded question, but, what do you think makes a “Great” golf course? This can be an incredibly simple answer or one that is vastly complex. We first must define what “great” means in this sense. Do great courses only pertain to those who have hosted Major Championships like Pebble Beach? Or those who have continue to stand the test of time like St. Andrews? Many consider great courses are the ones that are highly ranked by the golf media, fans or professional golfers. The answer can be a combination of the above factors, or none at all. Golf is a game meant to bring joy to its players. As golf course architects, we must focus on this first and foremost. The average golfer could not break 100 at Bethpage Black under tournament conditions. Does this make it a great course? The Lay of the Land and the Design? The natural typography of the land dictates the routing plan with determining factors like elevation changes, soil type, natural vegetation and habitats of indigenous species all playing a part in the look and feel of the design. You also must consider things such as the primary water source, seasonal changes in the weather and the overall creativity of the architect. It is a collective interaction of many variables and this is why the golf course architect plays such an important role in the success or failure of the project. Being that we are featuring Leopard Creek in this June edition, How does this course address the “key ingredients” that go into a successful course? Set on the banks of Kruger National Park, Leopard Creek is a testament of having a golf course seamlessly meld into the natural environment. Utilizing the natural features of the site and experiencing the view of the national park and Crocodile River... this was all part of experiencing nature while playing golf in a secure environment. We integrated fun and playable features into the
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golf course to ensure everyone would enjoy the experience. We also creatively introduced nature into the strategy of the golf course through water features, indigenous vegetation and natural elevation changes, always keeping in mind the playability of the golf course. The flow, variety, conditioning, visual aesthetics, strategy and fun factor all play a role in delivering a golf experience that will be remembered and respected by all who play this course. The Putting Green. Putting greens are likely the most important part of the golf course. The design and conditioning are often at times the focal point of the golf course. Quality putting surfaces begin with quality construction practices and materials. Without this fundamental basis, no design feature will overshadow poor turf conditions. Each putting green should be unique, but consistent with the overall design concept of the golf course. Regardless if greens are large, small, highly contoured or flat, each putting green should keep the players interest by being strategically meaningful and visually appealing. Once again, variety is key when designing 18 unique putting surfaces with varying slopes, orientation, location and memorability being all ingredients for quality putting greens. Which is the most intricate hole you have ever designed and why? We believe intricate is directly related to strategy. Every contour, hazard, natural feature, mowing pattern, and many more factors all play a role in the strategy of every golf hole. Shot value, variety, visual awareness and maintainability are also part of a successful golf product. The most dynamic and intricate holes we have designed are likely quarry holes (#16/#17) at DLF Golf & Country Club in Delhi, India. On a totally flat site, we created a rock quarry that thoughtfully and dramatically captures the imagination and amazement of everyone who plays it. Visually stunning, strategically challenging and mentally draining, these two holes are truly the most intricate and technically challenging golf holes we have designed. More importantly, this man-made rock quarry provides a great habitat for the natural wildlife, allowing for both flora and fauna to flourish in this eco-friendly setting.
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Hazards. What are they and where to place them? Bunkers, water features, naturalized areas, strong contouring and dams are all considered hazards. These types of design features are used by the architect to create visual awareness, strategy, contrast and texture throughout the golf experience. Golf is a visual game and to captivate players visually while also providing strategy will certainly capture the interest of the golfer and hopefully have them enjoy it so much that they return again and again. Remember, although golf is a visual game, it is also subjective. Every person has different opinions on what makes a good golf course, so keeping variety in every design allows us to appeal to a variety of golfers.
What is a course you are currently working on that we can look forward to seeing in the near future? Gary Player Design was selected to renovate the prestigious Delhi Golf Club in India which should be completed in early July and reopen later this year. We are totally redesigning green complexes, fairway bunkers and installing a new irrigation system. It is an exciting project knowing the steep history of the club and the opportunity it presents to make meaningful improvements to this iconic golf venue. We are also active in the Vietnam market as well as exploring new opportunities in Morocco, Africa, Europe and Asia.
We have designed numerous courses around the world that have hosted professional, amateur and charity Pro-Am events. Many of the best players in the world, current and past, have played our courses as have government dignitaries, celebrities and royalty. We are honored to have such a diverse portfolio of work that allows us to reach so many people to help grow the great game of golf. What does it mean for you to be a member of and sit on the board of Governers of the ASGCA?
Gary Player
Being a member of the American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) and being selected to the Board of Governors is an honour. We collectively work to promote our profession and to support the overall golf industry for the betterment of the game. It’s an exciting time to be a member of the ASGCA and being a part of this organization has allowed me to cultivate many professional relationships that will last for many years. I continue to learn more about our profession through many of the ASGCA members as well as helping mentor some of the younger members.
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Perfect Water Management Solutions
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P R O J E C T
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LEOPARD CREEK
N A T I O N A L J U N I O R D E V E L O P M E N T C E N T R E A T L E O PA R D C R E E K & L E O PA R D C R E E K G O L F C O U R S E R E N O VA T I O N Owned by Mr Johann Rupert, Leopard Creek’s innovative architectural and landscaping techniques ensure that the Leopard Creek golf course and living areas are not only exquisite, but also naturally protected from animals, while lakes and small streams have been diverted through the development to create scenic vistas and interesting golf strategies. This respected and renowned golf course has undertaken some recent renovations and developments by the team at Golf Data in association with Mr Rupert and Leopard Creek's Maintenance team.
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olf Data having already undertaken renovations to the Leopard Creek Golf Course were asked to assist Mr Johann Rupert and his team at Leopard Creek with two projects that although separate were inherently intertwined. The first project which conceptually began in early 2015, was to design a “World Class” practice facility on an adjoining 30 Hectare property of sugar cane that the Leopard Creek estate wrapped around. This practice facility was built primarily to aid in the development of golf at all levels in South Africa of which Mr Rupert is a patron. He also wanted touring professionals to be able to spend time whilst near Leopard Creek honing their skills where they could practice every type of shot imaginable. Lastly the facility would test numerous varieties of grasses to see what grass performed the best under the climatic conditions and that would use the least amount of water. The long-term intention for the second project was to re-grass the Leopard Creek golf course with the chosen grass to make it more environmentally sustainable. Leopard Creek members and visitors are able use the facility through financial contributions to Golf Development. Various conceptual layouts were produced and refined to 4 different layouts and facilities offered. The chosen concept had a 360° driving range at the heart of the facility with a 400m diameter and 5 separate tee boxes. The tees are angled so that you are never hitting towards another and separated by indigenous veld grass to reflect the concept of the golf course which uses the indigenous bushveld as a feature through which the course winds. Each tee serves different functions and offers a variety of angles for players to choose based on elevation, sun or wind direction. The main tee is 150m wide to handle a full field of professional golfers when Leopard Creek hosts the European Tour’s Alfred Dunhill Championship. Another tee is continuously undulated so that players can practice the uneven lies experienced on a golf course fairway so that they can practice shots from any slope angle. The greens were all built to full USGA specification so that players have a realistic experience and the range was designed with bunkers and fairways to provide defined fairway corridors of a golf course.
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SUPPLIERS Irrigation Contractor: Controlled Irrigation - 011 608 0767 Product: Rain Bird Sprinkler Bunker: A stone blanket was placed over the bottom Epoxy Resin: Norsag - 086 111 1720
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During Construction
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The facility also has a full short game practice area including 3 full specification chipping greens and a large putting green. Golf Data have subsequently added a second putting green with the same grass that the course was converted to, meaning two different types / surfaces to practice on. A “Himalayas” putting green as per the putting course in St. Andrews, Scotland, was built. It is a very large (4000m²) and heavily undulated green that is used as a natural putt-putt course. Around the edge of the property are 9 par 3’s, built in the spirit of famous holes from around the world. It includes a replica of approach shot of the finishing hole at Leopard Creek. The soil conditions were not ideal, having been a rocky sugar cane field, and so after the bulk earthworks and shaping, the entire area to be grassed was capped with an imported growing medium. Multiple types and varieties of grasses were tested on the numerous greens and 5 different varieties of Cynodon were tested on the range meeting in the middle. The purpose of this was to test the suitability and water requirements of each grass and to see which one performs the best in under the site’s climatic conditions. The best performing grass was then grown under a portion of a centre pivot on a neighbouring farm to have established sod for the conversion of the golf course. Mr Rupert wanted to make the golf course more sustainable as the kikuyu struggled in the lowveld heat and used a lot of water. He decided to use this time to make some changes to the course that were designed and planned with Golf Data. Golf Data were given 7 months, to do a full renovation of the course and have it open and ready for play. This project was a collaboration between Golf Data construction team and the Leopard Creek golf course maintenance team headed by Derek Muggeridge. It was a very tight timeline for the scope of work which included killing off the existing grass, reshaping the golf course as per the design changes, capping the golf course with a better growing medium as per the practice facility and finally re-grassing the course and growing it in to be ready for a major club tournament. Within 13 months of the construction starting the course hosted the Alfred Dunhill Championship. The new grass already seems to be flourishing in this climate and has reduced the irrigation 40
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requirements by 30% and as other added benefits for maintenance and maintenance machinery. The Turf Derek Muggeridge, Maintenance Director at Leopard Creek explains that, for several years, the maintenance team at Leopard Creek has been debating the pros and cons of the grasses used on the golf course during construction, namely kikuyu and bentgrass. The maintenance of the current grasses required extensive use of fungicides, pesticides, water and fertilizer to maintain the required standards. One of the ideas during construction of the National Junior Development Centre was to incorporate testing areas for suitable replacement grasses. The main decisions went around indigenous Cynodon species and improved varieties for these. For the greens, Derek's team teasted four hybrid ultradwarf Bermuda grasses which they imported from the United States and ran trial greens. Their final decision was to go with Champion G12 Ultraadwarf, which is an improvement on Cynodon transvalensis. The NJDC decided to obtain the license for Champion turf for South Africa to make this grass available to the golfing industry, and ultimately generate income for Golf Development in South Africa. “The fairway and rough grasses were a trial between both Cynodon transvaalensis and Cunodon dactylon varieties” says Muggeridge. “Ultimately we decided on Cynodon dactylon “Barbados” due to its texture, colour and drought tolerance. Barbados was also available in seed form which made the planting of large areas fast and cost effective which was a benefit during the renovations and re-grassing of the Leopard Creek course.” The design of the NJDC was done by Golf Data and the renovations to the Gary Player designed Leopard Creek layout were envisaged by Mr Rupert and implemented by Golf Data as well. The course is now a second shot course where emphasis is placed on positioning off the tee shot to allow access to attach the pins. The new Leopard Creek layout is friendly off the tee for the higher handicapper but challenges the better golfer. Overall the renovations highlight the courses’ true intentions and are a delight for both the golfer and the spectator.
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A B O U T G O L F D ATA With a heritage of 30 years in the Golf & Landscape Industry, Golf Data has become an industry leader backed by experience and skilled expertise. They focus on creating relationships and delivering quality based products. Golf Data is proud of its brand and the brands they associate with and strive to continually improve this image. With their wide range of services, they are able to reduce risk, cost and improve efficiency by acting as a single point of contact for all your green areas needs from Design & Construction through to maintenance. www.golfdata.co.za www.prolandscaper.co.za
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GENERATION SCHOOLS IMHOFF PIONEERING PLAY
In January 2019, Generation Schools Imhoff opened its doors to students from the age of 18 Months right through to Matric. This brilliant new campus is nestled in the heart of Kommetjie and is set to be home to 850 students. With design of hard and soft landscape elements and obstacle course by Earthworks Landscape Architects (ELA), Implementation by Longmans Landscaping and a state-of-the-art sports field by Synsport, it is refreshing to see new developments taking sport and activity to new heights.
PORTFOLIO Earthworks Landscape Architect’s lead this exciting project, which was to design both hard and soft landscaping for the Generation Schools newest development. Here the brief was to stimulate creative play and integrate the school buildings and general aesthetic with the landscape. The school, situated near Kommetjie, is surrounded by natural fynbos in the adjoining Cape Peninsula National Park and stone pines plantationas on the estate. The clients were clear in that they wanted a high-quality product and image for the school. The School required an obstacle course for free play and timed racing. The site contained mature stone pine trees (Pinus pinea), and even though they are extremely sensitive to root disturbance, the team endeavored to save as many as possible and integrate them into the courtyard and play areas. In response to the space for free play being limited, the parking areas were turned into hard surface play areas and courts.
Soft Landscape The aim was to retain as many of the Stone pine trees as possible while planting only indigenous vegetation, preferably locally grown. Longmans Landscaping supplied and constructed the soft landscape whilst Good Hope Nursery carried out a search and rescue, transplanting thousands of bulbs and other rare plants. Due to limited soft landscape and free play areas, the Hard Landscape was designed to be an extension to the play areas. The courtyards have stepped levels, using curved terrace walls. The rectilinear classrooms were softened and integrated with the natural landscape. The roadways and parking areas, which are mostly empty during the day, were turned into courts and play areas with painted games, basketball and netball hoops. It’s an area that is alive with energy, creates community and is encouraging for the students to get active. The Obstacle Course The obstacle course provides structures for playing and physical development. All the elements were designed for this project. ELA used Cladocalyx for the wood due to its hardwood characteristic and non-splintering nature. Because of this, it does not need any chemical treatment and is therefore safe for kids to play on. The square posts and beams provide a pleasant aesthetic and a thoughtful diversion from the more common round poles. The obstacle course was constructed on site by Ecowerks and is a wonderful structure adding interest to the space.
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PORTFOLIO MEET THE TEAM Adam van Nieuwenhuizen & Samantha Glen Earthworks Landscape Architects Building Contractor: Granbuild - Raymond Mpolokeng Landscape Contractor: Longmans Landscaping CC Artificial Turf, Rubber Mating & Sports Field Construction: Synsport
SUPPLIERS Hags Play Equipment: Crazy Concepts - 021 850 0102 The benches were designed to be extensions to the low walls, in this the team also used the Cladocalyx and galvanised metal supports. The benches were constructed by Recurve design.
to open the School for the 2019 year. As much care as possible was required to look after the existing Stone pines which are such a feature on the site.
Steve Longman of Longman’s Landscaping explains that the first phase of this project covered approximately 2650m2 of landscaping on the 1.7Ha site. Work commenced in MidOctober and had to be completed for the opening of the school on 21st January 2019, so the initial build time was around 3-months in total. The soft landscaping, minor hard landscaping and the automated irrigation, were implemented over this period.
The borehole water on site contained a very high iron content which eventually had to be remedied with the installation of a complex filtration system.
Steve and his team worked very closely with ELA and liaised constantly with the construction contractors GB Turnkey and civils contractor Burger & Wallace. It was decided with ELA, that the planting palette be almost entirely indigenous and consist of various coastal plants that will tolerate and thrive in the False Bay conditions once established. In order to implement the 1000 litre specimen trees around the Astroturf sports fields which were sourced from Just Trees & Trees SA, site visits to these nurseries were conducted to source the best possible specimen trees for the project. The majority of the smaller plant material was grown at the Longmans nursery for the project with some specific plant material being purchased from larger wholesale growers. The project was carried out around the appointed main construction and Civils contractors as well as numerous other sub-contractors under very difficult circumstances, due to the tight timeline 44
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The Sports Earthworks Landscape Architects required from Synsport, a rubberized surfacing solution for the play area that would offer the necessary protection against potential head injuries should a child fall. Adam also wanted something that is aesthetically pleasing. For this Synsport offered him their 30mm inter-locking rubber tiles. Not only does the product pass a critical fall height of 1.1m but was also quick and easy to install in a variety of colours. The colour chosen for this project was grey. Inter-locking tiles also offer a consistent 30mm height over the area. Wet pour rubber is screeded on and the challenge is maintaining a consistent 10-15mm throughout the entire area, and well as the difficulty in operating. With regards to the synthetic lawn areas, ELA were after something that would look realistic, something easy to maintain and something that would be soft for the kids to play on. The brief from the client was that they wanted a sports field that could accommodate soccer and rugby. For this, the team at Synsport used their Enka-Flex sports shock pad which also acts as a rapid drainage layer. When it rains the water will
Bench Manufacturing: Recurve Design - 072 473 7719 Obstacle Course: Manufactured and installed by EcoWerks 079 106 4319 Lighting: BEKA-Schreder - 021 510 8900 Artificial Turf & Rubber Matting: Synsport & Synthetic Lawn Co. 087 803 1024 Paving: Corobrik - 021 888 2300 Irrigation: Hunter Mature Trees: Just Trees - 021 871 1595 Trees SA - 021 842 0003 Planting: Alimandi Wholesale Nursery 082 389 6616 Arboreta Nursery - 021 864 3857 Good Hope Gardens Nursery 060 509 4288 Induli Nursery - 021 785 3581 San Michell Farms - 021 572 3930 Shadowlands Wholesale Nursery 021 903 0050 Nonke Plants - 021 887 6972 The Poleyard - 021 510 4477 Compost: Reliance - 0861 888 784
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PORTFOLIO
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drain vertically through the turf into the shockpad and then traverse through the shock-pad down to the storm water outlets. Here there was a significant saving for the school as they could now omit the sub soil drainage system running across the field in 10meter intervals as Synsport’s shock pad catches the water and transports it to the low point. Another benefit is the fact that water is prevented from penetrating the layer works which can often cause settlement in the base. Regarding the performance relating to the sports aspect, World Rugby dictates that a shockpad must be present when rugby is played on a synthetic sports field. Therefore, it was imperative that the team installed the Enka-flex shock-pad so the school could accommodate rugby as a sport and host tournaments. In terms of the turf, the team used their Greenfields Slide Max 50mm turf with silica sand and rubber infill. The shock-pad and turf combination are World Rugby and FIFA Approved and offer the best performance in terms of ball bounce, ball roll, ball speed, player grip and head injury protection. Synsport were asked to only install the basic perimeter line markings in the synthetic turf so that the school could paint on the balance of the line markings depending what sport was to be played on the day. Synsport also supplied the free-standing FIFA approved soccer goals as well as the detachable rugby posts. Synsport will also be maintaining the field for one year, as part of their contract. This involves their team coming once a month to do a clean-up of the pitch as well as using a drag brush to distribute the sand and rubber infill evenly over the playing surface. When installing sports facilities, clients can opt to purchase the equipment relevant to maintain the space themselves, or use the team to carry out this service. Overall the landscaped areas set an example of the types of sporting facilities and play spaces that will benefit the children who utilise them. These dynamic spaces are so important for a multitude of reasons; building community, motor skills and world class sporting spaces. 46
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ABOUT EARTHWORKS LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS (ELA) This firm is based in Cape Town with a vast range of projects which include private and municipal resorts, urban squares, private commercial developments, urban parks, play parks, sports fields and schools. Their approach to design is linked to an in depth understanding of social and ecological processes on the site. They strive to create unique places that respond to the needs and qualities associated with their locations and end users. The methodology that they undertake is attached to these values and follows from site analysis, conceptual inception and overall layout design simultaneous to detail design development. This process is organic and non-linear, with often a back and forth momentum that allows for increasing knowledge of the issues at hand as well as a refinement of the design expression aligned with the clients’ vision.
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021 903 0050 | sales@shadowlands.co.za www.shadowlands.co.za
Contact Us: 021 850 0102 | info@crazyconcepts.co.za www.crazyconcepts.co.za
Project Name: The Cloud Town International Convention and Exhibition Center Client: Cloud Town, Hangzhou Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang, East China Design Institute: Approach Design Studio (ZUP) Principal Architect: Ma Di Project Team: Jin Xin,Mao Liaoping,Jiang Sheng, Zhang Jialiang,Shen Weifen,Wang Yang,Mao Mengjun Floor Area: 66680m2 Timeline of Development: +-8 months Photography: Mao Liaoping
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CLOUD TOWN
THE CLOUD TOWN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTRE This Convention Centre is designed as a "3D park" to return all the space occupied by the building to the city, and "insert" various facilities like Lego toys to encourage citizens to participate in and meet each other. Indoor exhibition halls can be quickly switched to "sports warehouses". The design aims to get more public value from the urban resources of large public buildings. An exciting and forwardthinking project by Approach Design Studio in the heart of East China.
The unique project lies in the birthland of characteristic towns—Cloud Town, Hangzhou. For actively embracing imagination, a once unfinished industrial park has now become the industrial hub of cloud computing, big-data and artificial intelligence. The ‘Computing Conference’ held in autumn every year has become the largest-scale scientific and technological fiesta. Oddly enough, the conference was held outdoors several years in a row simply because of the ‘impropriety’ of available venues. Of course, by no means does ‘impropriety’ suggest those venues were inferior in terms of size or grade, it’s just that the conference founders didn’t want to see people’s imagination being constrained by a venue. Therefore, as the designers of the exhibition centre, Approach Design intended to break away from experience and the ‘desire to create’, contemplating and making breakthroughs from its origin instead of constructing yet another generic exhibition centre on this land. By nature, an exhibition centre is a vehicle for urban public cultural life. In fact, exhibition centres all over the country tend to adopt a pompous design, being pinned with the hope that their dimensions and unique looks could fully
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highlight the ambition of a city. However, from the standpoint of an individual, these features often intimidate people, so much so as to discourage them and detach from the life of the populace. Therefore, in the process of designing the first-stage of Cloud Town Exhibition Centre in 2015, the team came up with an atypical exhibition center design, abandoning specific models and so-called sense of ceremony, thus making the long-standing image of a ‘high above’ out-of-reach exhibition centre nowhere to be found around here. The replacements are refreshingly concise exterior, blurred boundaries and a fully open space accessible for anyone. The free, equal, easy and open experiences epitomize the town’s atmosphere, giving every visitor a sense of belonging and joy. In leisure time, large numbers of people come here every day to take a walk, rest, meet up and play around. Everywhere you can see their presence. There are even spontaneous shows going on. Therefore, the building turned from a makeshift structure into a permanent building representing the entrepreneurial spirit of the town. Two years later, in 2017, due to the increased scale of ‘Computing Conference’, a three-times larger second-stage Cloud Town Exhibition Centre was to be constructed opposite to the first-stage structure. Just when everyone expected an even larger ‘iconic’ building, the
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team designed it as a short ‘3D-Park’. There was no modelling to begin with. It didn’t even strike people as a building. The plan caused instant controversy and opposition. However, hidden behind it was our reimagination of urban largescale public building design paradigm, which had already gone above and beyond an exhibition centreitself. Today, almost every city owns an exhibition centre, which requires the support of a huge amount of urban resources. However, only few people know that even the busiest exhibition centres merely have a usage rate of 40%, meaning that they lie idle at least 200 days a year. The usage rate of most other exhibition centres is below 10%. On the flip side, the inertial thinking and typical characters of traditional exhibition centres make them hard to be utilized in any other ways, causing a huge waste of resources invisibly. As such, we start to question ourselves: is it possible to facilitate ordinary people’s life on the premise of fulfilling the original functions of an exhibition centre? Can higher resource utilization rate be achieved, by sharing the same body with other types of urban public facilities or by integration of some sorts? Consequently, Approach Design first decided to reduce the building’s huge size, in order to dampen its ‘aggressiveness’, compressing this 66,000 square meters mega-structure to merely
6.6 meters tall. It presents itself as a huge low rooftop covered in lawn, giving it as low a profile as possible and attracting people to approach it. All around the building sit a multitude of gentle grassy slopes, and thus the whole roof appears to be an extension of the horizon, openly welcoming people to walk onto the rooftop. In comparison to raising up the building and returning the bottom level to the public in the first-stage design, the second stage design returns all the land occupied by the building to the public, in a more intriguing and environmentally-friendly ‘3D-Park’ manner. Looking at both designs, one is ‘light’ and the other is ‘heavy’. People enter from the bottom of one building, then exit on top of the other without realizing it. A harmonious and interesting dialogue is thusly initiated at the same site. In order to control the height of the roof so that people can easily access, the design embedded one-third of the 9-meter-high exhibition hall underground, which makes people walk down when entering the venue. This has created a strong contrast from the ceremonial large step of the previous convention centres. The building almost filled the entire second phase due to the low building height, and both building density and greening ratio break through the existing design specifications (even if the roof was covered with green land, it could only convert 20% of
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the total greening demand). This idea has once again suffered a huge controversy, and several times it was asked to overthrow and redo it. Fortunately, Hangzhou City is willing to accept the imagination and listen to the architect's ideas, even more willing to create more benefits for the people's livelihood. Under the concerted efforts, this several-time "death penalty" plan passed the various approvals in a reasonable and compliant manner. The rooftop isn’t just a park. The team also introduced ten-odd types of fun-having facilities such as football field, watchtower, sand pit, studio theatre, roller skating platform, community vegetable garden, pavilion and hopscotch, all of which are joined by a 760 meters long winding rooftop runway. All these seemingly non-exhibition-centre-related designs attract numerous top-level conferences to be held here. On usual days, large numbers of people come here every day to exercise, rest and play around. With spontaneous community activities such as township concerts, football matches, carnivals and marathons going on, the exhibition centre has become the place to be for workers and inhabitants of the town on a daily basis. The team also preinstalled a large number of ports beneath the lawn. Should people possess interesting ideas, they can simply uncover the lawn and plug in like LEGO.
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The free development of the building and activities taking place here can both benefit from this. The wish for this building is that it never limits the imagination of its users. Today everyone is talking about interconnecting and sharing, but it appears that all the connections are virtual connections, and all the sharings are alternate sharings. We are living in an age of extremely advanced social networking, but the opportunities for people to truly get to know each other are fewer and fewer. We are in an age of ‘universal interconnection’, and we are ignoring the quintessential interconnection, which is interconnection between people. The wish was to design this attractive open place to encourage people to get out of their home and their office and come to this park to embrace nature. People can meet here and develop all sorts of interesting stories. The rooftop park extends all the way to the sink-style square at the main entrance, in conjunction with half-enclosing stairs, creating a round-the-clock studio theatre. In the corner, previously monotonous freight ramp has been redesigned into an undulated origami shape. People utilize it in all sorts of ways, a roller-skate platform for the youngsters or a slide for kids.
solely as an exhibition hall. Through integration of space and functions, the team confers upon it a new property- ‘Sports-Warehouse’. In absence of a conference, the exhibition hall can be immediately transformed into facilities for a series of sports such as basketball, badminton, table tennis, fitness training and etc., with the addition of closet, showering and professional mechanical/electrical equipment, making it a hustling and bustling place every day. So much so that the demand is well in excess of its capacity. This is an unprecedented trial. Although it is roughly the same place and construction scale, the result is not only an exhibition centre but also the first public park and stadium for the town. Furthermore, it injects new vitality and infinite possibilities into the town. Looking back on the whole design, it has neither eye-catching exterior, nor complex and costly technique, nor obscure and esoteric ideas. The open, compound and civic design alone makes it the most popular place in town, maximizing the public value of urban resources behind the building. The design is an active imagination of and bold attempt at the urban public building design paradigm under the requirements of the new era. www.approach-design.com.cn
The interior of the building no longer serves
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URBAN RENEWAL
Design and Implementation: 2004 – 2012 Commissioned after international competition 2004 Location: Parco Dora Spina 3, Torino, Italy Client: City of Turin Size: 37 hectares Team: LATZ+PARTNER
PORTFOLIO
The Italian Torino Parco Dora Spina of 91,5 acres is characterized by its industrial past and spatially defined by the river Dora, by main traffic arteries and relatively new residential quarters. In the 1980s the industrial heart of the city was wiped out with the closure of the Michelin tire factory, the Fiat Perriere Piemontesi sheet metal works and other big manufacturers. In 1998 the urban renewal programme‚ Programma di Riqualificazione Urbana PRIU‘was launched to regenerate one of the biggest brownfield areas in Torino. A new use was searched for these areas of post-industrial dereliction. LATZ+PARTNER was appointed to develop a strategy for the wider site in 2004, in order to incorporate the individual character of each area, to strengthen and enhance them with new elements, and so to create a unified park experience.
functional differences and aesthetic impact are based on the quality of the industrial remains. Bridges, stairs and ramps connect the different parts of the park with each other and with the surrounding quarters. The river Dora was formerly partly covered with a concrete plate. In the scope of the project “Torino, Città d’Acqua” it gets rediscovered for the city.
MEET THE TEAM
Industrial remains, especially the large hall of the sheet metal works in the Vitali area at the center, dominate the park.
LATZ+PARTNER
LATZ+Partner: Lead Design together with STS S.p.A., Bologna (steering); CMC Studio Ingegneri Associato, Turin (structural analysis); Studio Pession Associato, Turin (architecture); U. Marano; Cetara (artist); Pfarré Lighting Design.
Landscape Architecture Urban Planning
“Spina 3” is the largest project within the comprehensive structural redevelopment. Due to the positive inclusion of its industrial heritage the Parco Dora signifies a new understanding of inner urban landscapes that reflects the transition of society. Corresponding to the former property lines the park has five separate areas whose
© Andrea Provenzano
© Ornella Orlandini
“Sports news 2019: LATZ+PARTNER, was commissioned for the SAP Garden landscape around the new sports arena, in Olympiapark Munich, which is built by the architects 3XN, Copenhagen, Denmark. More information https://www.latzundpartner.de/en/projekte/freianlagen/sap-garden-im-munchner-olympiapark/ “
© Ornella Orlandini www.prolandscaper.co.za
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The outer skin of the building was removed to leave a 30m-high red steel column which, in time, will be covered in Virginia creeper and other climbing vegetation. One section of roof was left in place to create a sheltered space, which now hosts leisure and cultural events. Today the urban park offers for all generations a variety of multifunctional outdoor sports opportunities. Transformative fields of activeness are especially positioned under the great columns, such as sports surfaces for basketball, streetball or bike-polo. Kids can play creatively and freely training their coordination and skills all year outdoors. Joggers and bikers prefer to move along the linear walkways following the river Dora. The central lawns of the park offer slackliners great balancing possibilities. The choice of materials preserves the existing structures and correspond to the industrial nature of the site. Simple and pure materials were chosen, such as concrete, gravel or steel. The reuse of existing materials offered the possibility to recycle materials and to combine them in new contexts giving them new interpretations and functions.
© Ornella Orlandini
Prototypes of chosen durable materials were previously fabricated, in order to test resistance for high frequency. Beside the conservation of buildings and the choice of mineral materials, the vegetation concept was very important relating design intensities to intended uses (e.g. sports areas, gardens and lawns). In order to guarantee resilience for the park structure, a long-term usability, conservation and maintenance, we chose persistent vegetation adapted to the special conditions.
© Andrea Serra
Our intention for the project was to find, accentuate and to strengthen the particularities of the genius loci and the characteristics of the site, as a super ordinating structure. A discussion about the site´s history and the metamorphosis of the industrial function of the site was essential for the transformation process into a unique leisure site. During the planning process we had several meetings with “old” and “new” inhabitants of the surrounding districts. It was important to discuss future needs and expectations of the new users, in order to create a special identity of the park. Our intention here was to create a public park for everyone that was more than a garden, that offers possibilities to all kind of uses respecting the memory of the industrial past.
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© Ornella Orlandini
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P R O J E C T F I V E
COMMUNITY SPORTS PARK
Following up their multiple-award winning public park, 'The Block', with an equally stunning community sports park design, Dubai-based landscape architectural practice desert INK discuss their latest commission. Featuring a large family swimming pool, skate plaza, adventure playground, exercise track and sports courts, this park is designed to become the sporting and social heart of this master-planned community in Dubai. Managing Director Duncan Denley expands upon their approach; "The intense programme of activities required by the developer's brief, coupled with a limited allocation of space certainly presented us with a significant challenge. We soon realised however that the key to the design's success would be stitching the various components together. For this purpose, we maintained a simple, common palette of materials, strong design language and employed a bold colour palette as a signature element. 56
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Utilising the exercise track as a stitching device looping around the park and joining the various plazas and spaces was another key move in the design's development." Rather than relegating the typically unattractive sports courts to the far corners of the site, desert INK chose to create a vibrant sports plaza dressed in signature bold colours. Being sunken, spectators are provided with excellent vantage points of the activities below, as well as minimising the height of sports fences. Even the floodlights form part of the aesthetic, being finished with the park's signature golden-yellow. "We like to turn problems on their heads" comments Denley. "In this case turning a potentially ugly sports court into the heart of the park through employing some simple alternative design approaches." The team applied a similarly unconventional approach to the pool, with a double-beach edge separating a shallow splash pool from the family pool. A composite timber walkway slices
through the pool with a gradually-sloping beach edge falling away on either side. "Having spent much time observing the way people like to use recreational pools, we know that most people don't actually swim. They like to sit, hang out, cool off, lounge around and splash with the kids. Too many pools are designed solely for the 2-3% of people who like to swim laps for exercise. We tend to design pools around their predominant use, so shallow edges, seating ledges and in this case beach entries are given priority" comments Denley. A similar approach is applied to the skate park. A skate plaza composed of a simple series of small ramps, rails and boxes is favoured over the deep bowls and imposing ramps found in most parks. Lead Designer Oskar Szlachetka explains; "we want to see skaters interact and activate the park environment rather than separating them. A skate plaza not only appeals to the beginner/improver skill level which predominates, but it also invites onlookers to enjoy watching the tricks and activity. We're www.prolandscaper.co.za
PORTFOLIO
essentially going back to basics; designing for what people actually want, not what we think they want. By really considering who we are designing for and how these users want to spend their time, we are allowing them to utilise the park in their own way" Designing the children's playground with similar philosophies, the space is populated with what looks like a tangle of timber logs. desert INK's significant experience of designing play spaces has likewise informed their approach. "We always place an emphasis upon nature and adaptability when it comes to children's areas" comments Denley. "Children get bored very easily, so each play item should be usable by many different ages of child for different purposes". Those wishing to learn more about desert INK's refreshing approach to landscape design will be delighted to learn that Managing Director Duncan Denley will be a keynote speaker at this year's FutureScape Africa Summit in Cape Town on 25th October. www.prolandscaper.co.za
ABOUT desert INK Known for their context-driven, sustainable landscape designs, desert INK are a landscape design consultancy based in the Dubai Design District. With 16 years of experience in the region, Managing Director Duncan Denley leads a creative team backed up by the 30 years’ experience held in the Desert Group and vision of CEO Michael Mascarenhas.
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F E AT U R E
LET'S TALK TURF Pro Landscaper catches up with some of Servest's finest, to find out all we need to know about Stadium Maintenance, Golf Course Maintenance and what Equipment we should be using in these sporting arenas.
GOLF COURSE TURF MANAGEMENT Mark van der Linde Branch Manager Landscaping & Turf Division
Every Turf Manager or Golf Course Superintendent has-or should have- his own philosophy when it comes to growing grass. Because, at the heart of it, this is what we do. Our challenge is to grow the most beautiful patch of lawn we can, with the least inputs. To me golf courses are beautiful; that is if they are properly maintained. The game of golf requires some of the playing surfaces to be grown in an environment that is not very conducive to a healthy plant. The grass is also mowed at ridiculously short heights for most of the growing season and subjected to a host of environmental and physical stresses every day.
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Important golf days/ tournaments coming up. Weather. Heat or cold? Rain or drought? Equipment status Irrigation status. No good applying fertilizer if you have pumps or controller issues. Staffing Disease pressure Holidays Soil samples and recommendations
Once all this is processed the agronomic programs can be drawn up, fertilizers, chemicals ordered and the processes implemented. Depending on the golfing and expectation pressure at a facility, a preventative fungicide program might be followed. Mowing Once the turf is receiving the proper nutrition, water and is protected against biological attacks, the next most important factor is the mowing of the grass. This is where the Equipment Manger and the Superintendent need to be
communicating effectively. Correct mowing heights as well as quality of the cut are equally important in getting the grass to look and play the way it should. The operators of the equipment should have the necessary training to be able to identify any potential problems and the team dynamic should be such that the communication with the equipment manager be open and honest in this regard. Frequency of cutting is then the next consideration, how many mows per week per playing surface can your facility afford? Different Surfaces Each of the playing surfaces namely: greens, tees, fairways, semi and the rough all have their own considerations when it comes to height of cut and the balancing act of health vs playability needs to be weighed up. In broad terms greens range from 3-4.5mm.
Great turf care boils down to a combination of the following; budget, water availability, skill and passion. Budget takes into account money available for the correct quantity of fertilizers, machinery, fuel and the other obvious inputs the course would need. The grass that we maintain follows the natural cycle of growth through the year and in order to get the best from the grass, the Superintendent needs to be on the ground every day assessing and planning. The 7 P’s are so important. A lot of factors will have to be taken into account before a plan can be formulated:
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Tees from 6-10mm, with the fairways being mowed at a similar height as the tees. Semi rough probably 15-30mm and rough anywhere from 30-60mm. Coupled with your selected mowing heights, in very broad terms the greens will be mowed anywhere from 5-7 days a week (this excludes double mowing for tournaments or club days), tees and fairways 3-7 times a week, semi rough 3- 5 times a week and the rough probably 1-3 times a week.
STADIUM TURF CARE Danie Oosthuizen Division Manager Landscape Maintenance
Water Watering of grass on a golf course is a topic that has caused many a disagreement and it is one that couldn’t be covered in short, however, the effective Superintendent will be inspecting his course every day and watering schedules will be adjusted accordingly. Fertilizer and chemicals are also a very contentious issue, but every manager will have his “go-to “products and formulations which he has used with success in the past and he will tend to favour these. Keeping it simple is a good rule to follow. Any program should be attending to any deficiencies that are present after soil and tissue samples have been done. Follow up samples will indicate whether the program is bearing fruit and if the approach should be changed. I would have to say that this is where the skill and passion part of the job comes into play, because all of the above are not just once off considerations. Most of it needs to be done on a daily basis. Golfers Love Green Unfortunately, with the Highveld winters, green is just not possible with the warm season grasses and while the courses look dull for the 3-4 months of the year, and while we don’t have growth, it is important to make the course as appealing as possible. These are the months when the “small” issues are attended to so that the golfing experience remains pleasurable. A splash of colour here and there with some annuals, repainting hardware, clever use of turf dye, tree pruning, bunker renovations, are all things the Superintendent can do to make his course a little more visually satisfying between June – September. When all said and done, there are very few places as beautiful and tranquil as an exquisitely maintained golf course in early morning or at twilight.
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This is a question of passion and timing. Maintenance is divided into 2 parts. One being what is expected from the turf (sport code or event and frequency) and the other being... the correct practice for said Turf! Too often people see green lawns and have no idea how to keep them to a specific standard. My experience both here at NWU and at UFS is that you should get to know your turf, the soil it’s built on and quite importantly, the water source you have available. This will in turn determine the program you need to follow in order to have a start point. The usage of your turf will often determine an adjustment to the before mentioned. This program will include irrigation, fertilizers, topdressing, herbicides and aeration. Healthy turf has a carry capacity, determined greatly by the soil it grows in and the program followed to maintain it. I start all maintenance projects by ensuring I have a constant (clean) water source, that I have the correct maintenance equipment on site and trained personal to operate this machinery. Once I have the expected usage program I will mow the turf to a sport code length and dig a few test pits, 650mm deep to see the soil structure directly below the turf. My advice is to take 4 soil, 4 root and leaf samples to be tested to ensure you understand the conditions you are working in.
We have seen that often managers over water pitches and this causes diseases to start on turf as the water does not drain away. Most Turf species need moist root zones but we do not want to stand in water (wet feet). To this end, once we have the soil and plant sample results, we often move to a water- soluble fertilizer program to limit excess water. With South Africa being a water-scarse country, this is a good move and it means that now other chemicals can be applied in conjunction with these fertilizers. We will spray preventative herbicides in season and with the season change to limit the amount of unwanted weed growth that occurs naturally. Spring brings the time to start the season correctly (We deal with Kikuyu turf grass mostly). This is normally around early September when the frost has stopped. I would then block the field for any usage, clean the upper surface with a tractor drawn blower mower to collect most of the lose clippings and dead upper growth. Then an aerovator/aggrevator will be crossed over the turf. The scarifyer will then be put over the turf to lift and remove the unwanted dead growth and leave a smooth level surface for the turf to regrow. Should the conditions require, my team will apply herbicide and a high nitrogen fertilizer to start the growth. This will then be followed by good watering of at least 25mm over the total and surrounding area. Watering will now have to be done regularly to ensure the root zone www.prolandscaper.co.za
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remains moist. Once the turf has been cut the first time it will be put into a mowing program. With me at the NWU it goes from weekly to 3 times per week in season to maintain a level playing surface and healthy turf. Fertilizer programs may differ but we follow a program (after plant sample analyses) that is spaced 2 weeks to 6 weeks apart. Regular aerovation is also done on all fields to ensure limit compaction due to foot traffic (every 6 to 8 weeks). With sporting events we often have to start months in advance to ensure we are ready for the event. With events like Varcity Cup that gets a lot of televised attention, people expect to see world class green turf. This has brought a new dimension to turf maintenance and forces us to investigate new ways to maintain our fields to standard. Also new innovation in technology keeps making advances to help us stay ahead of the game. Lastly, and quite importantly, I would always encourage a partnership with a reputable herbicide / fertilizer company to help you stay on top of your turf.
MACHINERY RECOMMENDED FOR GOLF COURSE MAINTENANCE, STADIUMS & SPORT SURFACES Henry Duncan National Technical Manager Landscaping and Turf This is a tricky scenario as one would be subjected to purely a budget vs maintenance standard and expectation. I would lean towards two respective options. Option 1 – Premium Essentially you are not bound to any restrictions in terms of budget and this relates to a relatively large fleet of machinery all designed for one primary purpose and to deliver a premium standard. This will range from: •
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All ride-on mowers. 3-reel / 5-reel for fairways and surrounds and rotary decks for rough and similar. (Golf) Dedicated ride-on chemical boom spray rig Dedicated ride-on top dresser for sand dressing and dusting (Golf) Dedicated ride-on bunker rake(Golf) Utility vehicle to transport goods round the facility refer to Gator or Workman Utilities. (Golf & Stadia) 40hp Tractor with Turf tyres and 3 ton tip trailer. (Golf & Stadia) Pro Landscaper Africa | June 2019
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On an 18hole golf course a standard size fleet could easily range between R 6 – 10 million as a start-up cost with easily about R400 000+ in maintenance costs annually to ensure you keep within service intervals. Maintenance varies between 100-200 hours service intervals or at least 3-4 times a year depending on the hours in operation for the larger assets mentioned above.
with dual functionality in both the construction and maintence scope of work. In summary I would say that combining option 1 and option 2 is probably the most realistic way of ensuring premium quality of work at relative affordability and flexibility for your greenkeeper or turf specialist today.
Recommended Brands: • Attachments & walk behinds: Redexim, Campey Turf, Protea, Progressive and Trimax. • Tractors: John Deere, Kubota, New Holland • Skidsteers: CAT, Bobcat, CASE & JCB
Line markers (sports pitches) hand held bowers, mowing & trimming machinery also a standard must in your fleet. Recommended Brands: John Deere, Toro. Option 2 - Alternative You can achieve standards very close to the above with the correct application and some innovation combined with a skilled team of operators. If you have a decent fleet of tractors ranging between 30-50hp you simply add all the attachments you need and still get the job done with relative ease. This includes: • • • • • • •
Mowing – cylinder and reel Chemical spraying Sand and fertiliser dressing Aerating Scarifying Walk Behind Stadium mowers for perfect striping Other specialized needs
This should essentially lead to a reduced fleet in size, value and operating cost, thus also ensuring maximum utilization of your fleet. The key is to ensure you have the correct speciation tractors that are reliable. Turf Tyres are non-negotiable in terms of protecting the surface. Hydrostatic transmissions are also recommended for attachments that require PTO operation at slow consistent speeds. This option should reduce the value of your fleet by probably 50% with the same effect on maintence costs. There is a downside however in terms of ease of operation, practicality and lower standard in certain applications. If you are in a position to add a Skid steer to you fleet then do not hesitate. An extremely useful multipurpose tool. From laser levelling to loading, scraping, digging and spreading there is very few limitations to its abilities and functionality. It together with a tractor is the only machinery
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