Section 04 · Flagship project

Cape Town.
Where we start,
and why.

Every winter the same story runs. A fire takes hundreds of homes in a night. A storm floods thousands more. Families rebuild the same flammable box on the same wet ground and wait for it to happen again. We propose ending that cycle on one build corridor, and proving the model to the country.

Fire

Dense informal settlements with timber and sheeting construction. A single paraffin knock over takes a whole row.

Water and cold

Cape winters bring sustained rain and wind. Uninsulated shacks flood, stay damp and never warm up.

Proximity

Vissershok and Coastal Park sit within a short haul of the settlements with the greatest need. The material and the need are neighbours.

The dwelling

A home, not a temporary structure.

  • Load bearing Dignity Block walls threaded on vertical rebar, no mortar required
  • Insulated envelope that holds heat in winter and rejects it in summer
  • Dense, cavity free walls that break the settlement fire path
  • Raised, sealed floor slab above stormwater level
  • Plumbed, wired and serviced to municipal standard
  • Expandable core plan, so a family can add rooms over time

Days

Wall erection time per unit

100%

Recovered waste in the walls

0

Mortar and binders used

Local

Build crews, trained on site

The pilot, step by step

01

Site agreement

City of Cape Town waste department partnership at Vissershok.

02

Install

First press commissioned on site by our own engineering team, picking line staffed from existing reclaimers.

03

Community co design

Residents, ward councillors and planners set the layout together.

04

First cluster

A demonstration cluster of homes built and occupied.

05

Publish

Cost, thermal and structural data released openly to unlock the national rollout.

The ask

We need three partners, and then we can start.

Municipal

Site access at Vissershok, waste stream allocation and planning approval for the first cluster.

Capital

Funding for one press unit, the sorting line and the demonstration homes.

Technical

Partners for SANS structural certification and materials testing of the block in local conditions.

The people living in these settlements do the hardest work in this country for the least reward. They are owed more than a plastic sheet and a promise. With the right minds, honest town planning and the support of our countrymen, this is entirely achievable, and we intend to prove it.