Boidus Focus - Vol 2, Issue 1 [Feb 2012]

O I D U S F O C U S

www.boidus.co.bw P5.00 (Including VAT)Botswana’s Architecture Design and Urban Landscape Newspaper

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COMMENTS >12

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BUILDINGS >06

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Traditional is the new Modern; Advancing vernacular ideals into the 21st centuryCBD Watch! [photos by Abo Reginald Kefitlhile]

EDITORIALS >04

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Going GREEN with Goit-semodimo ManoweNow's The Time (Charlie Parker Song from 1952), by Jan Wareus

NEWS >02

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Botswana Awaits Ap-proval of New Science PolicyRoyal Gold Medal 2012: Herman Hertzberger

by Boidus Admin

Botswana's Heritage: The Building of National Assembly

Traditional Is The New Mod-ern; Advancing vernacular ideals into 21st century

by H. Killion Mokwete, ARB Registered Architect, RIBA Chartered Architect

Design by YEM.

>>> CONTINUED PAGE 10

>>> CONTINUED PAGE 06

New Year, new budget new resolu-tions, same industry problems. The construction industry is undoubtedly experiencing some tough times world wide and Botswana’s is no excerp-tion. The year 2011 saw a freeze in Government new building activities >>> CONTINUED PAGE 08

The National Assembly building’s lan-guage in its structural expression draws a lot from the Mediterranean vernacu-lar styles. The structural vaults forming the colonnade of the building are a key part of Mediterranean vaults or Cata-lan vaulting, common in the Cyclades. These vaults, sometimes called barrel

Background InfoThe traditional building methods and processes in the village of Maitengwe in the north east of Botswana are chang-ing rapidly. This inevitable change is spurned by many aspects of the village locality, some of which are due to the rapid growth of urban working locals who, on their return from the urban centres bring new and building aspira-

vaults or lamella structures were un-dergoing renewed experimentation at the time of the Parliament design by some of the leading architects of the era such as Le Corbusier and the Mai-son Murondins, Mansons Jaoul and the famous Roq et Rob Project.

tions. The village has its share of cor-rugated iron houses, flat roofed ‘castles’ and more other sophisticated typolo-gies of architecture.

The open critic with the new adopted models of building is that they have lost something dear to the village way of life. They have lost the spirit of the

and this brought a lot of uncertainty to the construction and property mar-ket. The industry in Botswana is facing its toughest challenges yet, to survive without government support. This test has been pushed to the limit. BOCCIM last year called for an industry bailout

or stimulus package.

We therefore sat down with some of the key stake holders in the industry to share with us their views and thoughts on what the market holds for 2012.

Why are Residential Property Prices so high? Apex Properties Debate: 'A Botswana Independent of SA Services'

Registered at GPO as a NewspaperVolume 2, Issue #1

Botswana's Property Market Outlook For 2012Despair and Optimism, According to Industry Stakeholders

CBD and Fairgrounds may lead to oversupplyCI should be wary of the sky scrapper effectMulti-residential, the big deal in 2012 propertyBuy the smallest house in a good area.

DR. Keith Jefferis [Econsult]

Othata O A Batsetswe [MFDP]

Harold Matenge [Banc ABC]

Kim Bekker [Seeff Properties Botswana]

K. BekkerO. Batsetswe

H. MatengeK. Jefferis

National Assembly, Alan C.G. Best, 1966

BOIDUS FOCUSWednesday 01 February, 2012

Local NewsPage 2

New Irrigation Products launch by Enviro-Grower by Esther Amogelang / Images © EnviroGrower

A subsidiary of EnviroGrower Australian will next week Thursday launch its two internationally acclaimed ag-ricultural products for the first time in Botswana at Ga-borone International Convention Centre (G.I.C.C.) from 1800hours.

Under the theme, Sustainable Growing Solutions, the launch will give a clear understanding of how the prod-ucts work.

The company participated at last year’s Global exposition by exhibiting some of its products and then opening an office in Botswana.

According to the Director responsible for products in Bo-tswana, Peters God’swill Bakani Peters on a press release; the products have been successful in overseas countries since its first inception in Australia. The two products to

be lauched in Botswana are Moisture and Water Grower.

A sub-surface low water irrigation product, Moisture, which is already tested and available in Botswana pro-vides continuous fulltime water supply at a rate of 100ml per linear metre every 24 hours directly to the plant. Peters said the benefits of this irrigation system include direct delivery of water to the root zone and have no evaporation, runoff or even overwatering. He also em-phasized that its simple, yet cost effective and therefore produces good results.

He also added that this system is perfect for horticulture and backyard gardening, it saves water by over 80% as compared to the ordinary drip irrigation system, thus making horticulture farming feasible for a borehole yield-ing as little as 1 cubic metre/hour.

Another product, Watergrower, on the other hand is a gel like substance that gradually releases water directly to the root system of the plant. It is a solid substance con-taining 97% and 3% cellulose fibre based compound. It is yet another good irrigation system because it produces a slow but steady supply of moisture at a rate sufficient for the plant intake requirement and can last up to 90 days.

Meanwhile the company has set two trial sites, one at the Former President Sir Ketumile Masire’s farm in Loba-tse which the farmers are already so passionate about.

The Architects Registration Council was to this week Tuesday to hold a seminar discussion with stake holders including Architects Association of Botswana to discuss the first draft of the Architect Registration regulations. The meeting, which was postponed due to the cur-rent University of Botswana strike, was

scheduled to be held at the UB Student services building.

The draft regulations for the Architects will be the first concrete step towards professionalizing the architecture pro-fession in Botswana. The Architects Reg-istration Council will be charged with among other things to establish and maintain a register of all qualified archi-tects and technicians in Botswana. Also consumer protection and industry pro-tection will be one of its key mandates.

The next process will be to present the regulations to the Minister of In-frastructure Science and Technology (MIST) for approval.

Draft Regulations for the Ar-chitects Registration Councilby Boidus Admin

by Boidus Admin

Botswana hopes its research system will be better coordinated and funded through the establishment of two sci-ence and technology bodies to provide oversight of the country's research and development (R&D).

The Botswana National Research, De-velopment and Innovation Coordinating Council (BNRDCC), which will be chaired by the country's science minister, will fo-cus on funding strategies for adequate implementation of the country's re-search, development and innovation agenda.

The existing Department of Research, Science and Technology, under the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science, and Technology, will be transformed into a directorate primarily responsible for the creation of policy and legislative that promotes participation in science and technology R&D. It will function as the executive arm of the BNRDCC, coordi-nating the implementation of national science, technology and innovation policy.

The new developments are outlined in Botswana's revised science policy, which was approved by the cabinet in the middle of last year, presented before parliament late last year (21 November) and will be implemented as soon as par-liament has given its formal approval, which is expected next month.

Botswana Awaits Approval Of New Science Policyby Justice Kavahematui / © 2012 SciDev.Net [www.scidev.net]

Currently, critics say that Botswana's research system faces numerous con-straints, including inadequate invest-ment in research; fragmented, unco-ordinated and untargeted research activities; lack of technology transfer and scarce human resources.

"The government has been funding R&D, but in very small amounts, which have not been enough to provide for comprehensive research in the country," Carter Morupisi, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science, and Technology, told SciDev.Net.

He said that the government will now support the development of a strong, cohesive and well-coordinated national research system focusing on economic growth through the conversion of re-search results into products and ser-vices.

The government intends to partner with the private sector to invest at least two per cent of gross domestic prod-uct (GDP) in science and technology research and innovation by 2016. Bo-tswana's GDP is just over US$15 billion, according to 2010 statistics from the Bank of Botswana.

Keta Mosepele, a senior research fel-low at the Okavango Research Institute, said: "We need these oversight bodies because … communities are not reaping the benefits from research work.

"We compete with other researchers from outside our country for this donor money. Now, with government funding research, things will improve."

Under the BNRDCC, a national research fund will be established; one of whose tasks will be to finance research rel-evant to the national priority areas.

Boidus Student Portfolio Competition to be Launched in June 2012

Students of the creative arts (archi-tecture, design, landscape, interior design) are judged by the quality of their talent and ability, demonstrated through evidence in form of Portfo-

lio. Graduates enter the work market through interviews and in essence portfolio is the only proof of who you really are as a designer.

Cesar Pelli, writing in the book Portfo-lio Design states, “The portfolio tells me about the abilities of its designer to communicate ideas and images in graphic form…. I can even judge how well they have managed their time in either overdoing the portfolio design or in having established an efficient process for preparing it.”

Boidus will offer graduating students from all creative arts in Botswana to submit their digital Portfolios for a chance to be featured in our Boidus Focus publication and a certificate. This Annual Portfolio Competition aims also to give students a sense of pride in their work and encourages professionalism when completing as-signments.

Students should visit Boidus' website at www.boidus.co.bw for more infor-mation and to stay updated.

© Botswana Innovation Hub

© 2012 SciDev.Net

Student Portfolio, Ali Crank


Local / Regional / International NewsPage 3

"Doing Business" Improves in Botswanaby Boidus Admin / Source: 'Doing Business 2012 Report', World Bank

Royal Gold Medal 2012: Herman Hertzbergerby Boidus Admin / Source: RIBA [www.architecture.com]

For the Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger the struc-ture of a building is not an end in itself, it is literally the framework for the life that goes on inside it, a life that is determined by its users. This goes for a school, a home or an office – all building types that he has transformed in a 50-year career in architecture.

Herman Hertzberger was one of the leaders in the movement away from functionalism in the mid-20th century. Influenced by semiotics, linguistics and struc-tural rationalism, he sought to identify an underlying order in a building's construction that is not related purely to its function. He saw this as analogous to the deep grammatical structures in language explored by Claude Lévi-Strauss; just as grammar is brought to life in speech, so the fundamental tectonic order in buildings is given social meaning by the way in which they are inhabited. Because for Hertzberger inhabitation is all.

Structurally, Hertzberger's buildings are characterised by a clear articulation of the supporting lattice. This creates a series of cellular zones within which minor elements like sills, benches and thresholds are used to prompt human occupation. His debt to anthropology is manifested in his particular concern for these defined territories which are both joined and separated by lim-inal or threshold elements. These 'in-between' pieces set up a dialogue between adjacent spatial orders, as well as encourage social interaction.

As a discipline, architecture is a continuous unfold-ing dialogue between tectonic organisation and social meaning. The user of a building is encouraged to change its underlying organisation by occupying it creatively. So although the construction does not in itself have mean-ing, it creates a space where meaning can be defined.

Hertzberger took his spiritual leadership from the work of Aldo van Eyck, one of the team X (along with Jaap Bakema, Giancarlo De Carlo, and Alison and Peter Smithson) – the movement that led to both structural-ism and the new brutalism. Between 1959 and 1963, with Bakema and Van Eyck, he edited the journal Fo-rum, which became the mouthpiece for structuralism in architecture. In his books, based in part on his lectures at Delft University of Technology, Lessons for Students in Architecture (1991), Space and the Architect: Lessons in Architecture 2 (1999) and Space and Learning (2008) he not only outlined his ideas and principles, but also discussed his sources of inspiration such as the Egyptian pyramids, the ancient Greek theatre at Epidaurus, the benches in the Parc Güell of Antoni Gaudi, the Pueblos in Arizona, the Piazza Anfiteatro in Lucca, Diocletian's

Palace in Split, as well as Le Corbusier's early work. In one of his earliest buildings the Student Housing in Am-sterdam (1959-66), designed while he was still a student himself at the Polytechnic of Delft, his admiration for the roof zone of the Unité d’Habitation in Marseille is clear. Meanwhile his pre-occupation with the city as the highest manifestation of the socialisation of mankind is evidenced by his co-founding and acting as the first Dean of the Berlage Institute in Amsterdam, an architecture school set up as a laboratory for urbanism and the built environment.

bedZED, London, England (image source: en.wikipedia.org)

Botswana continues to make it easier for companies to start up and operate, according to the Doing Business 2012 annual report. Ranked 52 in 2012, an

improvement from last years 54 Bo-tswana comes above countries such as Ghana at 60, Namibia 74, Russia 124 but below South Africa at 36.

Herman Hertzberger

YKK Dormitory, Kurobe, Japan

Lin Mij Textile Workshop, Amsterdam

Montessori School, Delft

Centraal Beheer, Apeldoorn


EditorialsPage 4

by Goitsemodimo Manowe

What is Green Building?

Firstly, I should welcome the readers to the column on Green Building: “GOING GREEN” as I would prefer to call it, and as the term is more encompassing and appropriate for the subject matter at hand.

The column has found its new home at Boidus, after a spell with the Sunday Standard newspaper in 2010. There couldn’t be a more appropriate forum to engage the masses- politicians, in-tellectuals, policy makers and ordinary men and women of Botswana who, like any creature in the biosphere, are af-fected by the sustainability problem!

I often wonder whether or not people

fully understand the notion of green building or sustainability in the broad-er context, how it comes about and the implications for the world and so-ciety at large- rich and poor, powerful and weak. I should, therefore, kick off this column and, hopefully, bring along the reader by answering, first and foremost, the question: what is Green Building?

The world is facing a sustainability problem; a big problem which is al-ready impacting large and small econo-mies, communities, politics and gover-nance, trade, big and small business, the urban fabric; The list goes on! To understand it and truly appreciate the nature and gravity of the problem, one has to appreciate the source of it: the

population time bomb!

In October 2011 the world population reached 7 billion. But wait! Since that date, and in just 3 months, the world population has increased by more than 17 million. Currently, close to 260 chil-dren are born every minute. That is more than 4 every second, and the rate is increasing! Ask the questions and ponder: Where will an extra 75 million people or so in total (close to10 million in Africa alone) fit by October this year; Will there be sufficient space, shelter, food and water for an extra population the size of Africa’s current population, i.e. another billion, in just 15 years from today? The world population is projected to reach 9.5 billion by 2050, by which time Africa’s population will

Going GREEN with Go itsemodimo Manowe

the notion and significance of Green Building.

Green Building design and construction is part of a much bigger international agenda on sustainable development. The key operative word is sustainabil-ity and “green” comes about from the need to design, construct and oper-ate buildings in a manner which safe-guards the environment for the benefit of humankind and other species on the planet, now and in the future. It is to do with the sustainable use of resourc-es and the mitigation of negative im-pacts on the environment – water, land and other resources, environmental pollution, impact of waste generated, energy consumption and the produc-tion of green -house gases as a result of the process of design, construction and operation of the buildings. The green-house gases referred to are those that deplete the presence of ozone in the atmosphere, and by which the earth is protected from excessive radiation from the sun, and the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, leading to global warming.

Buildings account, as per commonly available statistics, for close to 40% of the world’s total energy demand and about 70 % of electricity consumption. They are responsible for about 40% of carbon dioxide emissions, 50% ozone depleting Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), 65% municipal solid waste, 40% ma-terial usage, 12% water consumption and 25% timber harvesting and forest depletion. But most importantly, the built environment provides a habitat or a setting for economic activity and trade, governance and all other human activity that leads to those impacts; a link and interrelationship that is, often, not sufficiently addressed.

As habitat, buildings account for a ma-jor contribution to diseases derived from the indoor environment. These include cancer, brain damage and el-evated blood levels in children, hyper-tension and other disorders due to lead

be close to double its current popula-tion, i.e. 2 billion. By how much will the available environmental carrying ca-pacity be exceeded, as it certainly will happen? How much damage will have been done? What life and suffering is likely to be experienced, in 40 years time, by children who are born today?

Will the forest survive the harvesting of firewood for income rather than simply for own fuel? Will there be any unpol-luted ground water left? Will the wild-life survive the poaching? Will there be boarders? How insulated, if at all, will countries with a low population and opportunities for survival, be from the emerging phenomenon and grow-ing problem of squatting by illegal im-migrants? And you might dare ask, will there be government, at least in the manner we know it to be today? These are the questions about sustainabil-ity, the bigger picture, of which green building is just a part; a broad subject I am thrilled to explore and share with the readership of Boidus.

At the heart of sustainability, and in the context of population growth, is the control of the means of production and trade, especially the basic means of survival – energy, shelter, food and water. It is also about the growing issue of consumption by the rich, i.e. should there be ceilings on consumption by the rich? The question keeps crop-ping up at sustainability conventions. I intend to argue, in my future articles and in that context, that there is over-whelming evidence suggesting that, at the core of sustainability, governance is the main problematic issue which has a direct bearing on the control of the means of production and trade, the role of big business and the rights of the haves versus the have-nots. I will be brave enough to make bold predic-tions about changes in the urban envi-ronment and governance, which not even planners, central and local gov-ernment can do anything about, save to facilitate and support processes by the masses that best mitigate nega-

tive impact and expand the boundaries of bio-physical carrying capacity. The phenomenon is, invariably, bound to impact, and in a big way, the property market, power of government over its people, power and role of big business and state-owned enterprises: What will, for instance, be the role and rights of a power utility corporation in the advent of renewable energy technolo-gies. After all, the sun’s energy and the primary driver of all processes in the biosphere, belongs to us all and not even the state can, and unlike with coal or natural gas, retain monopoly over it! The sustainability problem brings about the possibility of wars being fought over the world’s fresh waters: The “Next Carbon” as one expert has called it. Yet others talk of “Water De-mocracy”; a new concept about this increasingly scarce commodity.

For now let us explore and understand


Editorial / Guest ColumnPage 5

Now’s the Time (Charlie Parker song from 1952)by Jan Wareus, Architect / Town Planner

What I have indicated so far about the future is well known for most planners and architects but we seem to have some “commercial” blinders on. We must ask our-selves – Are we advising clients and decision-makers the right things?

Clearly not - so where do we go from here?

Well – let’s have a look at some tables from the Canadian Architects blog. We start with “Measures of Sustainabili-ty – embodied energy” – the basis for trying to be energy sufficient – the “embodied energy” in the building mate-rials used and recommended by architects is important. Follows here:

As can be seen – architects here are mostly preferring steel, aluminium, glass and other materials that are on the top/bottom of the “embodied energy” list. Why? Is it just that the well-known “icons” used it frequently in the past? Should it be the same today – they would certainly not have done that (remember Alvar Aalto).

And those materials, by necessity, seemingly give us high-rise buildings in need OF air-cons, lifts etc - in a country that already is on her back because of power breaks and badly planned supply – and as we know, power will be severely more expensive in the future even if a bit more reliable. Some doesn’t think so, by the way!

It should also be noted that the table is “Canadian” – the transport factor is consequently less than for Botswana!

How do we handle this knowledge in a world of less abundance of cheap energy?

Firstly, we have to encourage local production of build-ing materials – we have all raw materials needed for that! Secondly, we have to design buildings that are not inher-ently in need of excessive energy for longevity – including normal maintenance. The former resident architect Ian Marshall once indicated that for us. (And Boidus has an in-teresting article by IM that I hope they will print one day.)

He made some ground clearing designs for UB and Gov-ernment in the 80-ies that are in good shape (and good looking) still!

Now we have to look into the next important design is-sue for architects – Measures of Sustainability (incl. op-erating energy). These are highly important factors for sustainable design but unfortunately impossible to make an abridged presentation here – we have to advice the interested architect to go to the sources – www.canadi-anarchitect.com/asf/perspectives_sustainability.

The conclusion of that paper reads as follows:

“Although both energy use and greenhouse gas emis-sions increased in Canada between 1990 and 1999, the increase would have been much greater if not for im-provements in energy efficiency. As a result of this prog-ress, Canadians are saving about $5 billion per year in energy costs, and greenhouse gas emissions are five per-cent below what they would otherwise have been.

Viewed from the perspective of national debt, operating

energy is a vital indicator of sustainability.”

Yes – so much for architectural design and sustainability! Let’s go to town planning.

For you to understand – I must confess the following:

I’m an architect from Sweden (1965) – totally against the bureaucratic dictatorship of planning regulations! Town planning was in my learning time quite subordinate to the art of architecture and building. In my mind, so it should be – putting a lot of responsibility upon architects.

And here we are – a situation when “town planners” are making up plans for 2025 and more, extrapolating 1995 trends into 2025!

In my answer book, I have the concepts we used in Stock-holm City Planning Department - we made “provisional plans” and started a discussion with the architects ap-pointed for the jobs. Before an agreement was even reached, the plan was taken for approval!

The plans were indicative until the architects were in agreement. And this attitude goes well with a future of “less abundance” and more or less zero growth.

So I see so called specialized town planners as unnec-essary – a revival of the old academic teaching concept of architects will do. The “technical and rational” town planning concept is a part of the site planning for the architect – as it has been for centuries prior to the neo-liberal concept of putting harness onto architects. Seems hard as an opinion but nevertheless true! The economi-cal pundits never liked the “jack-of-all-trades” - the archi-tects. Or any intellectuals, by the way!

However, here we are, with the so called town planners, for some time, still.

What can we do in a situation of no economical growth and less energy?

Well, let’s be happy we are not in the US! For more than 50 yrs the so called “suburban concept” has been imple-mented and now looks like a dead end. No way out ex-cept by turning around 180 degrees, and money will not be available for such a turn. So, they must find a way of getting services and jobs within walking distance for the people with no choice!

The suburb will be there for generations as the infra-structure was expensive and there are very few dollars in the future. US planners have serious problems when trying to “recycle” their suburbs, indeed. But it is pos-sible, I think.

For them and us the problem will be Public Transport. And finding a changed school system as – no private schools scattered all over town – local schools, instead – a challenge for the authorities! Schools and services within walking distances!

As I understand, it is possible here in our towns and settlements, but, as I said – a revised planning policy is needed. We must plan what we can implement in the near future. And leave some pointers, arrows, whatever for the long term unknown future. The days of the 25 yr planning period are gone – totally unknown to us (as it has been for many yrs to the ones who read reports from various energy authorities).

I have been writing about the importance of a change in the transport and road system for yrs, now. And finally I find a learned friend, Jayson Sechele – listen to his ad-vice, if you don’t believe me! That’s how things should be handled.

Let’s start the discussion, now. It’s soon too late!

Third version 25/01/12- Jan Wareus

poisoning, cancer from exposure to as-bestos fibres from the many asbestos containing building materials and as-bestos containing minerals used in their construction. Polychlorinated Biphenyls as in sealants and plastics, etc, cause liver damage, cancers and respiratory disorders. Formaldehyde as in the glue or resin that is used in a lot of timber products also causes cancer, respiratory and reproductive disorders. Volatile Or-ganic Compounds are the major cause of the so-called Sick Building Syndrome – headaches, lethargy, irritation of the eyes and nostrils, etc. Yet other pollut-ants accumulate in buildings as a con-sequence of design, such as the deadly family of bacteria that thrives in warm water found in re-circulating evapora-tive cooling systems and causes death in the form of Legionnaires’ disease. There is mould, a fungal infestation, which like dust mites, is propagated by excessive humidity in the air-conditioned air and surfaces in the building that promote its growth. There is also carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other pollutant gases, which when left to accumulate to excessive levels in the indoors, can cause serious damage to the human body. In this regard, the built environ-ment is a critical part of any sustainabil-ity programme.

In that context, Green Building pro-motes sustainability through the miti-gation of environmental impacts but should also be looked at from the point of view of the possibilities for expand-ing the boundaries of bio-physical carrying capacity, given the pressures from the world’s population explo-sion and human activity. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology, an interesting subject for my further discussion in Boidus, should be viewed in this context. Given the increasing competition for fresh wa-ter and its worsening scarcity, due to the population problem and climate change, the latest trends in green building design pursue a net-zero ap-proach for water supply at the residen-tial, commercial and industrial level. The same goes for energy and solid waste. What this means is that a build-ing, like a living plant, should harvest, in a sustainable way, its own resources, process and provide for its own needs and that of its inhabitants: not only to offer protection from the elements, but adequate thermal comfort, indoor environmental comfort (air quality, etc) and indeed food. It, therefore, implies

independence from the public utility grid and full autonomy of the individu-al, household, community or corporate entity; a phenomenon which has huge implications on governance and intro-duces, at a higher and perhaps more controversial level, the difficult ques-tion of self-determination of communi-ties within the urban ecosystem. Most people with elementary high school chemistry and biology will know that plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen and humankind does the opposite - a kind of a symbiotic re-lationship between species and a hall-mark of processes in the biosphere. However, plants in buildings do much more than just provide pleasant views and breath out oxygen. Through tran-spiration, plants are able to scrub par-ticulate matter (dust of various kinds) including lead dust from cars using leaded fuel. They are able to remove, by uptake via leaf stomata, gaseous air pollution and scrub the air of irritant gases like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. In that regard, plants play a crucial role in the improvement of air quality within and outside of the build-ings. But they also, like oceans, play the important role of moderating the effect of heat energy in the biosphere. They absorb heat and thrive in a warm and cold environment. In a symbiotic man-ner, plants also provide biomass for other species, directly and indirectly.

One cannot, therefore, talk of green building without considering the role played by plants in the built environ-ment and as part of the biosphere.

The sustainability problem means that the world is at the cross-roads, and new approaches to governance, architec-ture, planning and economic policy and many other spheres, that impact on hu-man existence, have to be developed.

Having laid the foundation, join me as I explore deeper, governance, self-deter-mination, CDM/CCS, Net-zero Energy, Net-zero Water, integrated biomass (food) production in the urban fabric and many other aspects of sustainability in the next issues of Boidus.

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BuildingsPage 6

building process and more importantly, they stand to lose out on advancing the sense of place that the original settle-ment patterns and building structures sought to protect.

Maitengwe is a typical iKalanga village that was built and based around the villag-es means of production. For example the village is a three site system with farms located on the most fertile part of the vil-lage, the village originally located on the proximity to the Maitengwe river, for easy access to water, and the grazing fields lo-cated on multiple sites, but most located away from both the farm and village. This is reminiscent of permaculture.

The homestead layout and basic struc-ture was built on such principles, always with a harvest storage structure as one of the earliest to be constructed. The sacred rites associated with production, wealth and society were a key part of not only the homestead layout but the choice of settlement.

In the design of my mother’s house, the core aim was to get back to the roots of traditional building and learn afresh what made up a traditional layout and the rites of the use of spaces. We did have to look far to study how spaces in a traditional iKalanga homestead func-

Traditional Is The New Modern; Advancing vernacular ideals into 21st centuryDesigned by YEM [Bridget MacKean & H. Killion Mokwete]

tion. My mother’s homestead was a perfect specimen:

Study of the existing homestead layout:The existing layout has three key special working zones:1. Welcome area-Front yard zone2. Public reception zone-Intermedi-

ate area3. Private/entertaining zone – food

preparation area

These spaces are formed by the spatial arrangement of the traditional huts around the yard. Each of these huts exerts its gravitas to its immediate breakout and its character and use. For example, the entertaining zone is truly defined by the food preparation hut, which breaks out to an immediate yard often semi-enclosed into a yard (nhga

in iKalanga). This also defines the shade area around the hut, the fire wood stor-age, the sundry area and other tradi-tional rites such as the traditional beer fire place. This would later also define where the traditional god’s offering place. All this points to the richness of rituals of spaces within the yard which these huts frame.

In our approach to the design of this house, we set ourselves to not only maintain the above, but also to respect and celebrate them with the new pro-posal.

Building Concepts > Zoning ideasSite zoning and space planning observed these key aspects: The key organization-al approach is space integration without losing meaning and value of each space on its traditional sense.> Hierarchy of spaces and order of use, from front gate tree to the private en-tertaining area; hut positioning and framing in relation to other objects such as the Nkwakwa tree and the main front gate entrance > Ritual spaces, My mother as the cli-ents, still adheres, performs her tradi-tional rituals such as traditional brew making, occasional traditional instruc-tions could dictate that there is need for ‘giving to the gods’ as such the place for

these two are respected and celebrated in the site layout. > Articulation of Key spaces; • Entertainment area, The cooking

area’s relation to the outside and outdoor fire spaces greatly influ-ences the location and integration of cooking, indoor sitting and its immediacy to the outside court. The dual fire place is critically po-sitioned to serve between indoor and outdoor court as it would in a traditional setup.

• Storage area (Dula), The Harvest storage area is an integral part of tra-ditional homestead and here it is ap-propriate placed in close proximity to the cooking and rear of the yard.

• Sleeping areas (Bedroom), Inte-grated to this area, this Is the ma-jor shift the integration process. The bedroom which is my mothers also integrates en suite bathrooms and storage. As she grows older the ground location and close proximity to cooking areas is vital to the practicality.

Other spaces brought to the integration are children play spaces and open plan deck area. This is vital as now that she is a grandmother, she entertains grand kids and a play area where she can inter-act with them is ideal. The upper deck which can also act as guest crash zone is a very informal playful area that neat the two clusters together intelligently without need for extra rooms. Formal expression > Use of vernacular forms; the signifi-

>>> FROM PAGE 01

cance of the round hut in its primal form is a core part of the building culture of the iKalanga tradition. The proposed in-tegration of spaces sought to maintain the forms albeit in integration. The re-sultant morph builds and accentuates the curvatures and seamless traditional build. This is complemented by intro-ducing an umbrella roof structure which also builds on the traditional thatch conical roof structure.

> The use of structures and expression of

structural timber supports, although not a replica of traditional structure does play to the same spirit. The concrete block walls are built in double layer to maintain the qualities of thermal properties found in the traditional mud wall structures.

Underlying the language and formal expression is the core belief in main-taining the qualities of the traditional iKalanga homestead in a house build in the 21st century to reflect the modern type of living.

Existing Site Context

Site Zoning Development Diagrams

Space Aggregation Diagrams - Phase 1 development

Sectional Diagram of Proposed Scheme

View of Plot Entrance

Garden Space

Outdoor Function Cooking Area

1

2

3

Phase 1

Phase 2

1

1

2

2

3

3

Ground Floorplan

Perspectives

Construction Progress photos


Local / Regional Building News Page 7

by Boidus Admin / Photographs by Abo Reginald Kefitlhile (+267 74131671)

CBD Watch! High Court, Masa Centre, Universal Plaza, Y2K Office Development

MASA CENTREProperty Developers: Three Partners Resorts (Pty) Ltd. (RDCProperties, Shakawe, Lavica & Keboife Holdings)Project Managers: Property and Asset Management Pty LtdArchitects: Arctez ArchitectsQuantity Surveyors: GAAM Associates (Pty) LtdStructural & Civil Engineers: A.D.A. Consulting EngineersMEP Engineers: AR EdwardsMain Contractor: ICC (PTY) LTDInterior Design: Blacksmith InteriorsLandscape Architects: VMO – Mrs Vicoria Morner O’Connell

UNIVERSAL PLAZAArchitect: Sage ConsultingCivil/Structural: Pinagare EngineersElectrical Engineers: Electric BotswanaMechanical Engineer: ESB Consultants

THE FIRST Y2K OFFICE DEVELOPMENTProject Manager: Abdulla AssociatesArchitect: Sage ConsultingCivil and Structural: Abdula AssociatesElectric Engineer: Electrics Botswana (PTY) LTDQuantity Surveyor: AGB Botswana (PTY) LTDMechanical Engineer: Ingpan Consulting Engineers Main Contractor: Red East Construction (PTY) LTD

HIGH COURT AND COURT OF APPEALArchitect: CPM (PTY) LTDCivil and Structural: Bergstan (PTY) LTDElectrical Engineer: Scales Associates (PTY) LTDMechanical Engineer: DHP Consulting Engineers (PTY) LTDQuantity Surveying: Davis Langdon (PTY) LTDContractor: China Jiangsu International


Feature AnalysisPage 8

Botswana's Property Market Outlook for 2012: Despair and Optimism, According to Industry Stakeholders>>> FROM PAGE 01

The Botswana Confed-eration of Commerce and Industry Manpower (BOCCIM)’s Director of Policy Advocacy, Mr Bino Magano is appeal-ing to the government and parastatals to un-bundle the mega proj-ects so that all the con-struction companies in the local industry can benefit during these

hard times for the industry. He stressed that with the world economy in turmoil, Botswana’s construction industry has been badly affected and there is a great need for strategies that can sustain the industry through the difficult period.

He says the construction industry is going through its worst period of business due to lack of projects and as a result he foresees some companies definitely going to shut down would be really bad for the economy.

BOCCIM, as Mr Magano explained, is the voice of private sec-tor business and advocates for issues affecting its member-ship. BOCCIM engages in dialogue and lobbying government, through the Sector HLCC and HLCC to address issues affecting its membership such as issues of trade and policy, immigra-tion, training and education and many others. Currently, the economic situation is very worrying and Mr Magano pointed out that without any improvement on this year’s budget out-look the Construction industry in particular will continue to suffer. He pointed out without going into details that the in-dustry indeed needs a bailout and BOCCIM has been working with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and other stakeholders to propose a package for industry assis-tance which was submitted to the Ministry. ’We hope that the coming budget will have something in reflection of this’, Mr Magano says and stressing that he could not go into details as this is still under discussion. Problems of the construction industry are compounded by the dominance of foreign owned companies catering for all the mega projects in the industry. He argues that the indus-try’s reliance on ‘soft loans’ from the international markets need to be aligned with local empowerment.

“The government’s economic empowerment policy is long overdue. The current situation in the industry is that Chinese firms rule the construction industry when we have qualified professionals who have no work to do. These companies bring along their own workmen from managers to labourers, while locals struggle to get jobs, this situation cannot be sustain-able’.

He says he believes 2012 will be hard for the country’s econo-my in general too. He says the country will not have the luxury of borrowing large sums of money from abroad anymore, minerals and meat do not have enough profit and this is when the government should even look at exporting professionals outside. Things are likely to get worse.

BOCCIM CALLS FOR UNBUNDLING OF THE MEGA PROJECTS Mr Bino Magano, Director or Policy Advocacy, BOCCIM

by Mpho Mooka

Contact: Dr Keith Jefferis Email: [email protected]

BF: The budget year of 2011 saw a cut back on Government expenditure on property re-lated developments in Botswana. How do you see this having affected the property market outlook and how do you think the coming February budget will be different from last year?

KJ: The property market seems to have held up well. Construction has been the fastest growing sector of the economy in 2011. While much of this is driven by new power and mining developments, private sector commercial property development has. It is likely that the 2012 budget will see further cuts in development spending, as this is necessary to achieve that balanced budget in 2012/13 that the government committed to during the global financial crisis.

BF: The property bubble in Botswana re-mained relatively unchanged through the 2008-2009 recession. The world economy Is feared to be in danger of undergoing through a double dip recession with many European countries in danger. How could these world events affect our market here especially In Property?

KJ: While global growth is likely to decline in 2012 (positive but slower growth), it is unlikely that there will be another reces-sion (negative growth), unless there is a dramatic intensification of the fiscal and fi-nancial crisis in Europe. Nevertheless there is a risk that double dip could happen, and we need to monitor developments closely. Any global growth slowdown, or even more a recession, would have an indirect negative impact on the property market, because our economy is heavily dependent on exports to the world economy. In the previous global recession, the economy was supported by a major increase in government spending, at the cost of large budget deficits. This time the same approach is not possible because the government’s financial assets have been

run down and now need to be rebuilt.

BF: According to the 2012 report titled Do-ing Business In A More Transparent World, getting electricity for a new building in Bo-tswana takes an average of five procedures in 121 days while in Mauritius it takes four procedures over a 91-day period. This has contributed to Botswana sliding in the glob-al ratings for doing business. How do you think much of our policy contributes to the outcome of property markets?

KJ: Also obtaining construction permits is very slow, and our zoning and licensing laws are an impediment to doing business. These are problems, but they can be improved through a concerted effort by government.

BF: On commercial property, especially of-fice and shopping complex developments, are we likely to see a saturation point of the market in Botswana soon?

KJ: Yes I think so, due mainly to major devel-opments in the CBD and Fairgrounds, which will most likely lead to a period of oversupply

BF: What is the current rental and yields in Gaborone and Francistown and how do you see this being affected by the economic out-look through 2012?

KJ: No idea, no publicly available data.

BF: Does Botswana have a database or col-lect/publish house price statistics? How can we compare our prices to the regional and indeed continent if we do not collect/publish house price statistics?

KJ: We can’t. The property industry should collectively contribute proper data collec-tion and publication as is done in many other countries, and is indeed a sign of a developed property industry.

BF: Would you say 2012 is the right time to invest in property?

If you have cash and can take a long-term per-spective, probably yes, or it might be good to wait until the market is really oversaturated and there are some bargains to be had (e.g. distressed sales). It may also be good for owner-occupiers. If you are borrowing for speculative property development (buy-to-let), and need to generate sufficient rental income to service a property loan, then I would say, beware, especially if there are no contracted tenants in the development.

BF: The world economy is still feared to be on the brink of a double deep recession. The Euro-zone cri-sis is the latest scare in the global economic crisis. How do you think this will affect Botswana’s econo-my and specifically the Construction market?

OB: Botswana’s economy is largely dependent on selling diamond to the European, American and recently a much more deepened focus to the East. However, the countries that are currently being heavily affected by the Euro Zone crisis will have an adverse impact but not harsh considering that Euro Zone is a trading block and therefore a drag by one of them will hurt the whole pool. The EU bail fund when it was established it gobbled 500bn euros, and by December it had gone to 1000bn euros. This is money that could have been channelled to coun-tries like Botswana in terms of aid, investment and other grants. So most definitely Botswana will be affected, the continued EU ban on BMC products may be there for a while, with constrained finance, beef from Botswana may turn to be a luxury.

BF: The property bubble in Botswana remained relatively unchanged through the 2008-2009 reces-sions. How do you think the market will withstand the 2012 potential economic challenges?

OB: The market in Botswana will remain un-changed in the next five years I guess, if there has to be a change, it will have to be from the sponsors and financiers of projects. Most of the construction in Botswana has always and remained primarily government. With a shrinking expenditure or lest say belt tightening due to unforeseeable circum-stances, we need new developers and investors while government focuses on completing ongoing projects. The PPP model needs to be explored fully when it comes to property investments. Untapped resources like Pension Funds which are most in-vested in foreign markets can be used to fund and finance infrastructure local, this is what most devel-oping or cash strapped economies do. This will sus-tain growth when times get harder on the govern-ment side. This will be a marriage made in heaven as it will provide relief on governments exhausted/scarce funds because we know governments use infrastructure to boost growth. The domestic mar-ket the boost and pension funds are the key. Pen-sion funds should up their contribution to 2% from 0.44%. This will be a huge boost to property market locally and in the process they may start looking at regional activities. This also provides a cushion to the volatile situation they always find themselves in, where any drop affects Batswana. The domestic market needs them.

BF: The budget year of 2011 saw a cut back on Gov-ernment expenditure on construction related devel-opments in Botswana. How do you see this having affected the property market outlook and how do you think the coming February budget will be differ-ent from last year?

OB: If the laws of correlation allows, this year’s budget should carry the same recipe as last year.

CBD AND FAIRGROUNDS MAY LEAD TO OVERSUPPLYDR. Keith Jefferis, Managing Director and Principal Economist at Econsult Botswana

by Boidus Admin

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY SHOULD BE WARY OF THE SKY SCRAPPER EFFECTOthata O A Batsetswe, Master of Finance & Control, Principal Economist-Government, Botswana Economics Association Member

by Boidus Admin

AND REACH YOUR CUSTOMERSADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCTS HERE KILLION

T: +267 755 05 291E: [email protected]



Construction IndustryArchitecture

Built EnvironmentArts & Culture

Property InvestmentBoidus Pty. Ltd.P.O. Box 50097, Gaborone


Feature AnalysisPage 9

Botswana's Property Market Outlook for 2012: Despair and Optimism, According to Industry Stakeholders

Government hopefully will still focus on completing its outstanding projects. The budget hopefully will see government cutting back on development and at the same time focusing more on maintenance of the already existing infrastructure. This is a boost to the construction industry, unless we look at con-struction only from the perspective of new build-ings. Most of the old buildings are dilapidated due to neglect and misuse. In terms of outlook, we need new players as stated above and they are there.

OB: commercial property, especially office and shopping complex developments, are coming thick and fast, are we likely to see a saturation point of the market in Botswana soon..and what effects could this have in the economy?

OB: There is still a strong demand for office space and shopping complexes. Sometimes I wonder if it’s just us observers that think there are too many shopping complexes because at the same time, they are always fully packed, maybe there is still need for more of those. Hopefully as we get more suppliers, considering our small population, prices will stabilize in the retail sector as now suppliers have to competitively price their commodities. The free market is self-regulating, over time this will lead to self-regulation like I stated above in prices and all will be fair. The challenge right now is the amount of money that gets to chase these goods that are non-contributing to the economy, I hope the taxman sees this and makes his cut too.


OB: Yes it is. But we are in the boom stage; finan-cial services providers are easily providing capital. A building boom is usually a sign of excess credit. There is easy credit rising land prices and excess optimism on property. But with the global reces-sion continuing, recession usually last for about ten months. Compare to the high amount s provide for unsecured loans. It’s still good and those that are willing and able should take up the initiative.

BF: What advice would you give to our readers who might be considering as one of their key investment avenues in 2012?

OB: Property is always a good avenue as discussed above. The financial markets are doing well, there is confidence in most sectors, and people should invest in stocks. Since credit is easily available, it’s high time we invest in companies listing, privatisa-tion is on the go so, and Botswana’s economy is looking bright. Batswana are beginning to under-stand and appreciate the financial markets and we should give them more education on that to avoid a crush.

A word of caution again is to those in the construc-tion industry, they should learn to anticipate the future and plan accordingly. Most of the reces-sion is always visible from afar, they should study the skyscraper effect and how they affect business cycle over time. A construction boom is usually fol-lowed by a financial bust. As much as more focus is shifting to the east we should be careful. A reces-sion in the Euro zone is already dragging the world into periods of lower growth will hurt Chinese and Indian exporter, property and demand for jobs. Banks should also tighten their regulations, by now readiness for BASEL III should be taking place. A boom could be a result of capital misallocation. For those that don’t know, the higher the presence of skyscrapers in a region then recession is inevitable. When the money is cheap to get, it’s time to be more critical with your investments.

BF: The world economy is still feared to be on the brink of a double deep recession. The Euro-zone cri-sis is the latest scare in the global economic crisis. How do you think this will affect Botswana’s econo-my and specifically the Construction market?

OB: Botswana’s economy is largely dependent on selling diamond to the European, American and recently a much more deepened focus to the East. However, the countries that are currently being heavily affected by the Euro Zone crisis will have an adverse impact but not harsh considering that Euro Zone is a trading block and therefore a drag by one of them will hurt the whole pool. The EU bail fund when it was established it gobbled 500bn euros, and by December it had gone to 1000bn euros. This is money that could have been channelled to coun-tries like Botswana in terms of aid, investment and other grants. So most definitely Botswana will be affected, the continued EU ban on BMC products may be there for a while, with constrained finance, beef from Botswana may turn to be a luxury.

BF: The property bubble in Botswana remained relatively unchanged through the 2008-2009 reces-sions. How do you think the market will withstand the 2012 potential economic challenges?

OB: The market in Botswana will remain un-changed in the next five years I guess, if there has to be a change, it will have to be from the sponsors and financiers of projects. Most of the construction in Botswana has always and remained primarily government. With a shrinking expenditure or lest say belt tightening due to unforeseeable circum-stances, we need new developers and investors while government focuses on completing ongoing projects. The PPP model needs to be explored fully when it comes to property investments. Untapped resources like Pension Funds which are most in-vested in foreign markets can be used to fund and finance infrastructure local, this is what most devel-oping or cash strapped economies do. This will sus-tain growth when times get harder on the govern-ment side. This will be a marriage made in heaven as it will provide relief on governments exhausted/scarce funds because we know governments use infrastructure to boost growth. The domestic mar-ket the boost and pension funds are the key. Pen-sion funds should up their contribution to 2% from 0.44%. This will be a huge boost to property market locally and in the process they may start looking at regional activities. This also provides a cushion to the volatile situation they always find themselves in, where any drop affects Batswana. The domestic market needs them.

BF: The budget year of 2011 saw a cut back on Gov-ernment expenditure on construction related devel-opments in Botswana. How do you see this having affected the property market outlook and how do you think the coming February budget will be differ-ent from last year?

OB: If the laws of correlation allows, this year’s budget should carry the same recipe as last year.

We sat down with the Youthful Mr. Harold Matenge, the Home loan Manager at the ‘new bank in town’-Banc ABC, to introspect on the performance of the Construction Indus-try (CI) on the past year, 2011, and also look for-ward to the year ahead , 2012. The world economy has been

in turmoil since 2008 and if things continue the way they are, fears are mounting in the developed world of a ‘double deep’ recession. Meanwhile Botswana’s markets, especially house sale market, have been ever rising.

With that as a backdrop, Mr Matenge reflects that 2011, was a very interesting year, since they had just joined the market on the 24th of October 2011, but the amount of clientele they had acquired within such as short time is im-pressive.

Matenge says that at the moment they are setting up shops, repositioning rates and doing a lot of research and propos-als to capitalize on the current high capital in the market.

He explains that when his bank started service in lending mortgage loans, they were informed by a detailed mar-ket research which pointed as to which demography most needed services in entering the property market. He says it deliberately identified that there were a lot of first time buyers who were frustrated by the often stringent require-ments needed by other established banks on top of the mortgage loan one gets. He elaborates that usually to ac-cess a mortgage loan at other financiers, you will be re-quired to foot a deposit as your share for the loan and on top there are other outside charges which need to be set-tled such as transfer duty rates and also lawyer’s fees. This, he points out, often meant most customers who would oth-erwise qualified would not be eligible because they needed to raise the deposit. Their bold strategy was to say ‘100% loan, no deposit’ provided you qualify for the loan. This proved to be the key to their success in 2011.

“The Business started booming mid November, right now the book is sitting very healthy, and mind you it has only been four months.”

He enthusiastically agrees to a suggestion that the bank is now easily identifiable with young people, especially those looking for opportunities in housing market.

Asked about what would be the big thing in the housing market in 2012, he says multi residential developments are the next big thing. This he says is also supported by the sec-tional titles legislation which makes it easy for developers to sell their developments off plan. He says as a bank that offers property finance in these developments, they have noticed a high appetite for multiplexes and flats.

He however also warns that challenges to growth exist especially since salaries for public sector workers have re-mained stagnant for a while, which usually influences the mood of the private sector.

Matenge says 2012 is exciting as people are buying land around Lobatse, Ramotswa, Taung, Boatle, Tlokweng, Phakalane, Mmokolodi, Gaborone North, Gabane, Mochu-di, Jwaneng, Mahalapye, Selibe Phikwe, and Francistown.

Asked if 2012 is the right year to invest in property Matenge responded by saying that Botswana has up market de-mands for prime accommodation, DTC is moving to Bo-tswana, therefore there is going to be a need for high end quality accommodation, especially enclosed luxury devel-opments. The relocation of high spenders into our market need to be met with the right supply.

BF: The property market worldwide has experienced the harsh effects of the world recession. The South African property Market is said to be slowing right down according to recent reports. How do you think our local property market has been affected and what if is the outlook for 2012?

KB: We are in a Boom Market – A Seller’s Market - The Botswana Property Market has not followed the world trends and prices are at their highest ever. With the ex-ception of Francistown, properties are selling at an all time high and there is still a lot of demand for good quality houses. Botswana is known as the Switzerland of Af-rica as there is no restriction on the movement of funds into and out of the country. This has made it attractive to foreign investors because we also have a stable po-litical environment. Interest rates have dropped and money is more accessible to local Buyers.

BF: Does Botswana have a data-base or collect/publish house price statistics? How can we compare our prices to the regional and in-deed continent if we do not collect/publish house price statistics?

KB: There is currently no database for housing price statistics. This is a matter being discussed at the REIB (Real Estate Institute of Botswana) but no concrete moves have been made towards starting a data-base. The best way to get advice is through your local Estate Agent or Valuer. Valuers acquire details of prices from the Deeds Registry which has its limitations as some properties that transact through a Sale of Shares are not recorded at the Deeds Registry.

BF: Office space developments are arguably at its highest ever, with CDB, fairgrounds, hubs leading the way. How do you think this office space boom will affect the com-mercial property rent and buying rates in the New Year?

What will be the effect commer-cial property with the arrival of tall buildings and Grade-A buildings in the CBD?

KB: There will be an oversupply of office space and this will bring the quality space into play. As a direct result of the oversupply tenants

will be able to pick and choose and rentals should come down or Land-lords will be experiencing vacancy losses. Also zoning by City Council has been enforced and those peo-ple who previously rented cheap office space in Industrial Areas will be forced to move to commercially zoned areas. Most purchases of commercial space are driven by the desire for owner occupation so sale prices won’t necessarily be af-fected by this. Also there is a trend for institutional buyers moving into the commercial sector and buying properties. With lack of opportu-nities for a return on investment in money markets they will be looking more favourably towards property.

BF: DTC is scheduled to relocate to Gaborone this year. How do you see this affecting the property mar-ket outlook in 2012?

KB: There are currently a lot of new people relocating to Botswana, not only DTC and this will keep the rental market in Gaborone buoy-ant but really only in the execu-tive market. Other centres such as Francistown are depressed and many houses standing vacant with rentals only achieving the same re-turns as 5 – 6 years ago.

BF: Housing and land prices have continued to rise through 2011; do you envisage this to continue in 2012? If so what will be the driving factor behind this rise?

KB: My own opinion is that prices will stabilise somewhat however particularly in the Greater Gaborone Area there is not more land available for development and so the value of outlying areas may appreciate as more land becomes serviced. Build-ing costs are affected by fuel prices as most of our building materials are imported and so the cost of building will continue to rise as fuel prices rise. There is international demand for property in Botswana both from foreign investors who think Botswa-na is a stable democracy and worth investing in and from Batswana working abroad earning Dollars and Pounds and wanting to purchase land back home.


KB: I don’t think it is ever too late! One should always invest in prop-erty and the banks are offering negligible returns on investment. One should just invest wisely and not over extend oneself.

BF: What advice would you give to our readers who might be consider-ing as one of their key investment avenues in 2012?

KB: Buy the smallest house in a good area.

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY SHOULD BE WARY OF THE SKY SCRAPPER EFFECTOthata O A Batsetswe, Master of Finance & Control, Principal Economist-Government, Botswana Economics Association Member

by Boidus Admin

MULTI-RESIDENTIAL, THE BIG DEAL IN 2012 PROPERTY MARKET Harold Matenge, Home Loans Manager, Banc ABC

By Keeletsang Dipheko

BUY THE SMALLEST HOUSE IN A GOOD AREA. Kim Bekker, Director, Seeff Properties Botswana

by Boidus Admin


Feature ProjectPage 10

BUILDING MATERIALSMaitengwe House by YEM

Botswana's Heritage: The Building of National Assemblyby H. Killion Mokwete, ARB Registered Architect, RIBA Chartered Architect

On Thursday 21st December 1965, a butcher, a baker and a candlestick maker sat down to work out how they should create a new capital for an about-to-be independent state. They were attending the first meeting of the Gaberones Preparatory Commission. None of them had previous ex-perience of such a responsibility and most were singularly ill-equipped in terms of past experience for the responsibility given them, even if none of them had actually butched, baked or candled. They were Rev. J.D. Jones (missionary), Victoria Namane (veteran teacher), Laurie Atkinson (bank manager), Messrs Russell and Thebe and two recently arrived career local government administrators, G.F. Cornish and W. T.W. Large. Of course, this small committee was not alone in tackling this extraordinary responsibility because a new capital could hardly be built without central government involvement. But how had this situation arisen? To make sense of it, a step backwards is required.

In 1961, the Legislative Council had recommended that Gaborone be the site for the new capital because it was tribally neutral, because it was Crown and therefore freehold land, because it had a site for a dam and be-cause it was regarded as being reasonably central to the more populated eastern strip/corridor. This recommendation was eventually accepted by the British government but the initial timetable for shifting the capital from Mafikeng was rapidly overtaken by the decisions taken at the Lobatse con-stitutional talks in 1963. Once it had been agreed that an election would be held in March 1965 it was obvious that the first government would need to take up office in Gaborone rather than Mafikeng.

Given the above picture, it is very clear that the conditions, present and circumstances under which the Parliament was procured and built was not ideal and could not have been a result of any sustained debate or search for locally produced concepts of the building. The Parliament was built as an integral part of the so called ‘Garden City’ ideal which guided the initial ideas of the building. The Parliament building sat at the base of the ‘brandy glass plan’ as famously coined by G.F. Cornish in 1968 (Alan C. G. Best)

Background history / The Story of Independence Introduction by Sandy Grant

>>> FROM PAGE 01

To understand this, it is important to reflect on the works and shift of archi-tectural ideology of the leading archi-tects at the time.

Le Corbusier:

Examples that might have influenced the thinking is Le Corbusier’s, Roq et Rob Project, Cap Martin, 1949. Le Co-buseir, undoubtedly the most influen-tial architect of that time, made this scheme for a development in West Africa and this was the time when he was known to have been shifting his designs to more PLACE orientated ideas rather than his earlier man-over-nature thinking.

Rafael Guastavino

Rafael Guastavino was the leader and research in the use of vaulting and domes structure at the time.

Louis I. Kahn

Kahn also experimented with this at the Kimbell Art Museum, while Rafael Guastavino was the leader in research in the use of vaulting and domes struc-ture at the time.

Influential Buildings and Projects1. Lion and Unicorn Pavilion; Festival of Britain, South Bank Exhibition (archi-

tect- R V Gooden and R D Russell): This was built in 1951 and round about this time the experimentation with Lamella Roof Structures was at its peak. Com-mentators on this structure noted that it ‘serves to symbolise two main quali-ties of the national character : realism and strength on the one hand, and, on the other, independence and imagina-tion’

Therefore one can see how this could have influenced an expressive lan-guage in our new national symbol.

2. First Lutheran Church (299 Berkeley Street), by architect Pietro Belluschi, built in 1956. This church has an in-triguingly similar interior layout to that of the Parliament. The Italian born Bel-luschi was also one of the architects who had their design influences from Europe. I visited this church while I was in Boston and there are similarities, but I don’t think the influence is as strong as in the above example.

3. More recent use examples (Holiday House in Cape town, Gabriel Fagan) Built in 1990’s this house draws heavily on the Mediterranean vaulting and be-cause it is built on the shore, the fault frames give portrait views to the sea.

[Details of Project Feature from Page 6] Principal materials: locally sourced thatch, concrete blocks, gumpole timber thinnings

Aerial view of Main Mall, Alan C.G. Best, 1966

Le Corbusier’s, Roq et Rob Project

Kimbell Art Museum Fort Worth

Lion and Unicorn Pavilion

First Lutheran Church (299 Berkeley Street)

Opening of the National Assembly, The Botswana Friendship Network

National Assembly, The Botswana Friendship Network


EducationPage 11

Interview with a Brigade Graduate: Ms Holly Maitseboa

The Education of an Architec-ture Student

by Esther Amogelangby Boidus Admin

BF: Please briefly tell us about yourself?

HMM: My name is Holly Matildah Mai-tseboa, I am 30 years of age and I come from Molepolole.

BF: Share with our readers your path of success, were did you graduated (name of brigade, course, year of completion) and why brigade?

HMM: I started this course ( Architec-tural Draughting) in 2003 Jan to 2005 Dec at Tswelelopele Brigade Centre , three full years and graduated in 2006 Nov. It was not easy, at first I never thought of studying at brigade because we perceived it was a path which was to be for the failures but my mother chose it for me. Infact my mum is the one who saw an advert on the daily news, she told me about it and I wasn’t interested, secretly she applied for me and was invited for an interview, I passed it then continued. The reason why she was so interested in this course she works for DBES and she wanted me also to progress in life like other people she sees in the same profession.

BF: What were the challenges and re-wards of during your time at the Bri-gades?

HMM: I didn’t have any challenges since i already had an idea of what I was gonna do on that course. At sec-ondary school starting from junior school, I was so much interested in those subjects perceived to be male subjects or jobs, I was doing design and

technology plus Art.

BF: What was your highlight project you can recall that you undertook at Brigade?

HMM: Hey, it was not easy though I made it. On our final examination we were to design a Hotel and my design was the best in school since I got lot of experience from where I was attached (Tectura International)

BF: How did Brigade lead to your career now as an architectural technician?

HMM: Getting involved with brigade has shown me what I never thought of being in life, I am drawing people’s houses, inspect buildings and super-vise projects. I am making money out of my hands and knowledge I got from Brigade.

BF: What do you think of the govern-ment take over of Brigades and their now replacements Vocational Centres?

HMM: I am happy about that, govern-ment taking over brigades will make people to take brigades serious since in the past we believed it was for the failures like I said before and it was un-dermined. But one thing that I wish the government should continue practicing is to admit Junior Certificate holders.

BF: Is there anything that could have saved the Brigade?

HMM: Since Brigade originally was for the community, the community it could have saved Brigades by practic-ing good management of raising funds by engaging into project within their communities.

BF: Being a brigade graduate, how will you say the brigade helped you to be the person you are today?

HMM: This proffesion is one of those if u are a holder of them you are a very important person in the industry because this is the first stage on con-struction. A Quantity Surveyor can-not quantify material before I give him drawings also structural engineer cannot and other discipline. I am very proud about who and what I am today through Brigade. I thank my mother for this because is all through her.

BF: What is your future plans in as far as architecture is concerned.

HMM: My plans is to continue with my studies to become an Architect and get to design buildings that will function make Botswana more developed since we are a developing country and eventu-ally establish my own architectural firm.

BF: What advice can you give to some-one who wants to venture in your path of career?

HMM: This is a most challenging profes-sion and you will enjoy the fruit of it for the rest of your life. All I can say is we have got few women in this profession, I would like to encourage bomme since they belief gore tiro ya diatla ke ya borre.

To become an ‘Architect’ in most indus-trialized nations is a protected process. Most countries have protected the use of title ‘Architect’ but mostly not the function or role of what an architect does. Therefore one has to undergo through an education programme, ap-proved by an authorized body. In the UK, the Architects Registration Board has authority over the education sylla-buses of teaching institutions, while in US the AIA regulates the federal educa-tion process but each State has control of its architect’s registry.

All in all the education of an architect takes an average of 5-6 years through continuous schooling. Attaining regis-tration with the registry board always requires 2 years post school profes-sional experience. In the UK two years of documented on-the-job experience is mandatory to be registered as an architect. There is professional ex-amination one has to pass and an in-terview-by-your peers, where you are interviewed by ARB and RIBA board of architects to be gain entry to the reg-istry as an ‘Architect’. Once registered, you then have to abide by the profes-sional code of conduct for architects. If found in breach, you will be prosecut-ed and struck off the register or jailed in extreme cases.

Other professional bodies usually exist in most countries and they have a big role in the education process and in the case of UK and US these bodies awards Chattership to its members. In the UK Chattership is awarded by the Royal In-stitute of British Architects (RIBA). Be-ing a ‘Chattered Architect’ brings with it international recognition that cannot be afforded by national registry bodies

such ARB mentioned above. Once chat-tered, one has to follow a code of con-duct of that body, which among other thing ensures good ethics, integrity and honour to the profession.

Wrong doing of a registered/chattered architect will usually be prosecuted in a court of law by the legal registry body. Professional bodies though not possessing prosecuting powers will undertake disciplinary actions to their members who are in breach of their codes of conduct.

In Botswana the education of an archi-tect is still a developing process. Though no registry body exists yet (will soon be established under the Architects Act 2009), a student studying to be an ar-chitect here would finish his academic course in 5 years (through direct route at University of Botswana) and be leg-ible to register with The Architects As-sociation of Botswana (AAB). AAB is the only professional body specifically for architects but just like RIBA does not have legal powers to prosecute in a court of law any wrong doings by its members. Most it can do is strip them off of their membership. AAB is cur-rently affiliated with other international bodies such as the International Union of Architects (UIA) and the Common-wealth Association of Architects.

Local architects have however over the years developed a good relationship with the South African Institute of Ar-chitects (SAIA), which is a professional body and has links with the RIBA. Ar-chitects have become chattered with the RIBA by taking an exam and sitting for an interview to be admitted as a Chattered member of the RIBA.

Boidus Focus

to be LaunchedStudents should watch this space or visit www.boidus.co.bw for more info

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Ms Holly Maitseboa


Housing / PropertyPage 12

BF: Please explain to our readers what you and your com-pany Apex Properties do?

IM: Apex Properties is the leading property valuation and investment management consultancy founded in 2004. Apex Properties is the indigenous market leader in proper-ty research, appraisal and valuation, estate agency, prop-erty management and investment consultancy. The Part-ners and Consultants bring to the real estate been missing in the innovative investment market of this age. This is a detailed research-based service in real estate and other in-vestment assets. As investment surveyors, Apex's primary research is on ascertaining the investment values and re-turns of real estate and its comparative investments.

BF: Botswana was ranked the most expensive places to buy a house in Southern Africa, ahead of SA, Namibia and others. As an expert in the housing market in Botswana can you explain why house prices in Botswana, especially urban areas are high?

IM: The prices are affected by basic Economics principle of Supply and Demand. Factors that limit the supply of property in Botswana include

Serviced landThey is limited serviced land in Botswana, this means land with water, power and sewerage. This shortage of ser-viced land put pressure on the limited serviced land like in Block 10 hence sky rocket the prices.

Poor Roads NetworkIt is not easy for people to commute from towns surround-ing Gaborone due to poor roads networks unlike in neigh-bouring countries like South Africa where they have Gau-train and many bus links making it easy to access Joburg from surrounding areas.

Traffic jams in Botswana make people hesitant to stay far from CBD, even the joining roads in town are not in a good state, this put pressure on people to all want to stay i town hence the demand exceed the supply with high margin causing property prices to hike.

Network and CommunicationPlaces surrounding Gaborone have poor network both on cellphones and landlines, the internet is a luxury there, therefore it makes it difficult for business people to open branches in this areas, so even business that do not nec-essarily have to be in CBD are crowding the place and in-creasing the demand on the limited available property.

Unregistered property agentsThese agents overprice properties to put their commis-sion on top of the market price to get their commission. Non citizens especially the cash buyers always fall for this and exacerbate the situation due to lack of information in the property market. They is no central source of infor-mation about property and lot of people get misinformed and cheated.

BF: Can you give us an indication of the current property rates for an average low-cost house, medium cost and high cost houses? Low cost: P450 000Medium cost: P750 000High cost: P1 200 000

Why are Residential Property Prices so High? Interview with Isaac Molefinyana, APEX PROPERTIESby Boidus Admin / Contact: Isaac Molefinyana, Email: [email protected]

Do it yourself (DIY) is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repair-ing of something without the aid of experts or professionals. The phrase "do it yourself" came into common us-age in the 1950s in reference to home improvement projects which people might choose to complete indepen-dently. Although still in its infancy in Botswana’s urban dwellers, DIY in the vernacular sense is the traditional way and a reality in villages. Most people in villages, still DO build, repair and maintain their houses themselves. In the urban centres, most homeown-ers, however, find themselves relying on paid professionals and workmen to do the most basic work for them. Most home improvements can be done and completed without the need of profes-sional help. All you need is time, a bud-get and will to do the work yourself.

Why Do It Yourself? [Benefits]The reasons for doing it yourself should be at the least personal. They should be something that would see you through the toughs and challenges of embarking on a DIY. But while you are at it, you might also:1. Save money (economical) 2. Have fun (leisure)3. Find self expression (identity) 4. Get that thing done without pay-

ing someone else (Necessity)

What do I need to know to do DIY?Before you bring on the bulldozers and add your master piece, there are things you should check first:1. Planning applicationCheck to ensure that your proposed alterations and or improvements will not need Planning approval before you build. It is essential to seek profession-al help if you will need planning and building control. A practicing architect should be able to help. 2. Services line covenantsEnsure there are no service lines such as water, power and telephone which would have covenant zones on which you cannot build3. Don’t touch structural wallsStructural walls and supports should never be moved, altered or modified without professional help. Therefore when in doubt ask an engineer before knocking walls down.

Will I need Expertise?The essence of DIY is that you learn to be the expert yourself. If you are add-ing a patio for example, you will have to learn how to put them together. Many

BF: Are high prices good or bad for the property?

IM: Over pricing the property frustrate the sale of the property. It is always better to sell the property with the Open Market value as it is a professional opinion of the Valuer who makes an informed and rational decision.

BF: What are the long term repercussions of high house prices?

IM: Buying an over priced house is a bad purchase and not good for investment. One will yield less Equity Re-lease from the Bank when they want finance. Over priced houses also yield low return on investment and making the purchase less meaningful when put to numbers.

BF: Does Botswana have a database or collect/publish house price statistics? How can we compare our prices to the regional and indeed continent if we do not collect/pub-lish house price statistics?

IM: They is not a central point of information about prop-erty information, even the Professional Valuers struggle when making comparables during valuation, if this was available then people could have been informed about the market prices of properties hence making it difficult for property owners and unqualified agents to over price the properties.

BF: Working with house buyers and selling houses, what would you say the environment for buying houses is espe-cially finding easy to access mortgages?

IM: Financial institutions are willing to finance property buyers, Bank ABC is currently running a special on home loans financing 100% on Open market value, BBS is financ-ing purchasing of the plot and building.

The only challenge with financing is that lot of people are not aware of legal costs which include Conveyancing fee, Bond Registration fee, Valuaion report cost and Transfer duty.

BF: How is this reflected in the youth who what to won houses?

IM: Hidden costs makesit difficult for youth to acquire property as one can be required an extra P100 000. With the income levels in the country it makes it difficult for youth to qualify for mortages.

BF: Lack of supply which has led to high yields in Bo-tswana’s property market is believed by some to be one of the key factors that contribute to high prices. How do you think housing demand especially in our cities can me meet?

IM: BHC and BDC are good channels that the government can use to subsidise the property market prices as they are currently more profit driven. Property zoning can be made more flexible to acquire Multi residential tittles to allow property owners to supply more accommodation.

BF: Property valuation and property agents generally charge fees tied to property values. What would you say to charges that Property agents inflate property prices

IM: Property valuation charge a fee independent of the market price of the house, they give a professional opin-ion and that is the service they are paid for. Property agents do not inflate the prices, we at Apex Properties we sell property based on an independent opinion of a Valuer. We are driven by morals, ethics and respect for the job we do, but I do not dispute that street hustlers agents maybe be tempted once in a while to hike prices for their personal benefit because they are not governed, professional and registered agents with REIB and REAC follow the set rules and principles. We at Apex Proper-ties we believe when selling the property it is our duty to protect the best interest of both parties, the buyer and the seller. We are not interested in a once of transaction but building relationship with our clients.

DIY and Home Improvements: Taking Charge of Your Homeby H. Killion Mokwete, RIBA Chartered Architect

online data and books are available for teaching yourself.

Popular sites (www.hgtvremodels.com, www.diylife.com, www.diynet-work.com)

What can I do as my DIY?DIY is personally driven by aspects of improvement that you might want to bring to your home. This could be just for improving the quality of your home or out of necessity where maintenance is needed. Some areas that could need your DIY attention could include the following:• ROOFS: Coverings , gutters• EXTENSIONS: Deck, Patio’s , New

rooms• INTERIOR: New Kitchen, bath-

rooms, bedrooms closets• EXTERIOR / Face lift: Re-cladding,

Painting, new windows

How much will it cost? DIY works need not be staggeringly costly but of course cost can also de-pend on your appetite. The costs should be associated with the value these improvements will bring to the home. For example, extensions can add around 25% to the value of your prop-erty, and basement or loft conversion will typically boost the property value by 10% to 15%. But what will they cost? The National Self Build & Renovation Centre

Image © www.hgtvremodels.com

Image © www.hgtvremodels.com


CommentsPage 13

The year has just began and already signs are that the world economy is facing yet another testing period. The Euro zone is undergoing serious eco-nomic perils and this is what largely inspired our feature analysis for this issue. We took time to talk to key stakeholders in our industry about what the prospects of the year 2012 will be on local built environment.

The recurring theme from these is that, Botswana like all other econo-mies will be affected albeit not as hard. Indications are that the budget speech, which at the time of print was not announced, might still uphold the austerity measures adopted with the 2011 budget. The budget’s focus on maintenance, although it might have been well intended, did not make any real difference on the ground that could be felt. The Construction In-dustry (CI), although cranes and activity is heaving at places like CBD and elsewhere, is in the ropes. Word from BOCCIM and others is clear that tough times are still ahead.

During these tough times it calls for intelligent long term investment rather than to shy away from it. As perfectly put by Mr Othata Batsetswe, an economist at Ministry of Finance, ‘what the industry needs is strategic in-vestment in the future’. This means re-looking at our education systems, global industry change and taking aim at the international markets else-where in Africa where Botswana can export its skills.

We welcome two new editorials to Boidus FocusWe are proud to introduce two brand new columns, hosted by two very distinguished professionals from our industry:

Mr G. S Manowe, B.Arch, PGD Housing and Project Planning, Cert. Proj-ect Analysis, MRIC,MAAB, MIHSAMr Manowe brings to our readership a sustained industry experience as distinguished architect, and expertise in the subject of sustainability and development. Mr Manowe’s editorial ‘Going Green’ will examine, explore and bring to the table key issues that are debated at world stage to our local environment. His column will also provide a platform for engaging in a critical discourse on issues of sustainability and self sustenance which Botswana is still to fully engage on, especially in the built environment.

Ms Larona M. Kgabo, Reigning Miss Universe Botswana 2011-2012, De-gree in Architecture, FMA Award, 2010Ms Larona Kgabo has shown a tremendous versatility from graduating top of her class on her architecture degree to coming top in the Miss Botswana 2011 beauty pageant. This achievement has thrust her into a youth leadership po-sition and a voice which she has gladly embraced and has been working hard to bring many aspects that affect youth under discussion. Her addition to our editorial will both offer her and youth in general a platform to interact, dis-cuss and network. Youth today are finding themselves requiring more active interactions to maximise their grip on the few opportunities available.

We again are proud to welcome these two very important persons to our editorial. We hope you will enjoy and follow their discussions and hope-fully benefit from them.

Tough T imes Ahead but the Industry Has To Persevere by H. Killion Mokwete, RIBA Chartered Architect

B O I D U S F O C U SBotswana’s Architecture Design & Urban Landscape Newspaper

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EDITORIAL built environment issuesIN FOCUS

DISCLAIMER: Please note that the views expressed in 'Comments and Letters' are neither those of Boidus, its management, nor its advertisers.

Comments & LettersSEND YOUR COMMENTS AND LETTERS: EMAIL: [email protected] OR VISIT: www.boidus.co.bw

Debate: A Botswana Independent of South African Services

Debate: Rogue Builders; What can be done to rid the Industry of them?

THABO+267 [email protected]

TSHIAMO+267 751 41 [email protected]

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PHYSICAL ADDRESS >Ko-i-nor House, Office 11Main Mall, Gaborone

Boidus Botswana: Many private/indi-vidual property developers have, one way or the other been dealt badly by rouge builders. From poor workman-ship, to unfinished work, bad client relationship and some running away with client’s money. I receive emails with gut wrenching stories of such. My question is how many here have been exposed this and what could be done to rid the building industry of such ele-ments?

Thabo Q. Letshwiti: people should be highly encouraged to use credible agencies, this can be achieved with help of stringent regulation by govern-ment!!!

Boidus Botswana: true that, but how about where there is no way to as-certain credibility of say a builder or plumber where you just doing your own house of maintenance at home?. mostly people use Zimbabwian person-nel (and even local ones) but its hard to know.

Thabo Q. Letshwiti: I have person-ally learnt that shortcuts will cut you short, in business we normally get rec-ommended by other folks, and thus reduces such likelihood, so to reduce such uncertainties you have to deal with someone who you can get recom-mendations on, unfortunately this is bad for starters

Barulaganye Paakane: In South Africa and in the UK there is a body that these service providers belong to. If u use a builder, plumber who belongs to that body the client can have recourse for any unsatisfactory work. It act like an insurance of some kind.

Boidus Botswana: B. Paakane we des-perately need such a body. many peo-ple are getting ripped off and its painful to see, esp. those that are vulnerable and had put trust on a service provide!

Esther Liwanga Mpiki Nasilele: Le rona Batswana kana re rata cheap ser-vice, even if such a body existed, we would still go after these cheap service providers thinking that we are saving money and remain with leaking roofs. We need to learn.

Mogana Odirile: I would suggest that for the time being.... clients/owners double check track record of the build-ers NOT by word of mouth though, take your time, go in person to see Their previous works, "its worth it" Seek advise from Qualified Architects/de-signers/contractors before hiring any builder.

Jan Wareus: Small builders are doing what big ones have been doing for years! It#s a sad story and the work-ing ethics are gone, since long. Money counts, how you get it is of no matter!

Botswana’s service provision prob-lems are plenty to count. The latest is the power shortage crisis. Our whole economy is dead tied to South Africa’s ability to provide surplus. My ques-tion is; will Botswana services ever be independent from SA. If so how can this be achieved?

LISTER DHLAKUSENI: i am enjoying this discussion and truelly long to see that day when Botswana will not be totally reliant on SA. Its best we pro-cure raw materials from SA since they have a developed industry then we can add value loccally by manufactur-ing on our own.

Anthony(Tony) O'Connor: As a South African I both agree and have differing ideas. In my opinion, the highest form of human relationship, is the true un-derstanding of Interdependence. The whole principle of " Give a man a fish and he feeds for today, teach a man to fish and he feeds for life" is what I am talking about.

It is so easy for us all to be sucked into the idea that what I don't have I can buy, but that makes us dependent on others. As long as there is no manner that I could produce that indepen-dently this is fine, but what happens is we get lazy and don't develop our own industry.

In Botswana it may be diamonds, copper, tin etc, in South Africa, gold, platinum, etc, that we sell, and then buy back other products including our own exports in jewellery etc, at many times more the value. Also exposed to so much, our imports become more about wants than the really important needs of the country.

To interdependently help each other to develop each other within all areas of fundamental needs so as to be less dependant is one thing, but to desire independence in this world, is no lon-ger practicle in my opinion.

Khosi Zulu: Mh, very interesting dis-cussion. On my visit to Gaborone, I too was surprised to observe the by-stander/spectator stance that many of the Batswana I came into contact with had. Pity, because this country is wonderfully blessed with resources that, if exploited fully and efficiently, could make a huge different in the lives of every member of the commu-nity. What is needed is leadership with vision and empathy for those who are most vulnerable in society. The poor must not be forgotten. Before I had the opportunity to visit the country, I always thought of Botswana as a coun-try well ahead of South Africa eco-nomically and socially. Back in the dark days of apartheid, while black people were struggling to emerge from the

colour barriers in South Africa, I would see black people driving around in fan-cy cars with Botswana number plates, and I thought "wow, life must be good where they come from". Something somewhere somehow must have gone wrong because I really think that Bo-tswana has a lot of potential and this country can thrive well independently, but even more so, interdependently with the countries around it. Safety (and strength) in numbers, right? As SADC members we must hunt in packs to get the best of the bounty of our region.


Professional PracticePage 14

Thoughts on the Application for lead Architectby Quentin Dart Parker, AIA Will I need Planning Permis-

sion for my DIY?by Boidus Admin

DIY by its nature involves individuals taking charge of their own home im-provements. The process has its key advantages (highlighted in the fea-ture) and also has challenges since one does not depend on professional help. One of the key challenges is knowing what is permissible with the law and what is not. Planning application approvals are a requirement by law and therefore if extensions are a part of your DIY, you are better off with getting help to ensure you stay within the rules. Normally alterations and remodelling without altering the building footprint and height, that means interior modifications, might not need planning permission but could require building control approval. This would also be in instances where structural modifications will be made. Therefore it is always advisable to do either one of the following:

1. Consult with your local planning authorities: Planning officers are very approachable and should be able to advice you on what approvals are needed. It is always advisable to get the advice you are given on paper or have a record for future references.

2. Consult an architect or planner: these professionals should be able to advice on what permissions you would need for your DIY job.

3. Structural engineer: before knocking off walls, have a chat with an en-gineer to avoid knocking structural walls. Also other additions for, say a story more to your existing would need to be submitted for building control approval.

It is worth noting that even if you do need planning application and build-ing control approval, you can still submit these yourself as there are no requirements that these should be submitted by a professional.

What kind of leadership does architec-ture as a profitable business require? How does the ‘lead architect’ position address these demands in the design field? Every candidate will answer these same questions differently. With design com-petency as one critical component defining product and process architec-turallya, the lead position integrates many other different tasks as well, all in search of the same solution design-wise. For example, historically Mr. Frank Lloyd Wright was known as a very difficult man to get along with in archi-tecture- in negotiation he was often de-scribed as ‘pretentious’, presumptuous, arrogant, argumentative and insecure, obscuring his extensive visual design talents. In business matters he was not considered a successful leader.

Having been introduced to him as a very young child, I remember him as an ominous, a dark, brooding charac-ter, someone who didn’t seem to be too pleasing to be around. As architects today, we must not only contribute to many of difficult professional challeng-es, but as lead architect we must also address presentation, format, keynote address, public relations, marketing and networking skills - since all busi-ness profitability stems from a specific manifest of resolving a client’s need to meet their full satisfaction- • As negotiators to understand com-

munication and project param-eters

• As managers to evaluate project asset and weakness, bottlenecks and shortcuts

• As presenters to engage the client, the audience, the boardroom and review agencies

• And finally, as competent archi-tects to bring visionary concepts successfully into built form

This position is more about under-standing administrative parameters and team motivation than about the conceptual design process. So many lead candidates today do not rely on

their skill sets, but upon previous team cohesion to present an embellished portrait of their contribution. As in relay track & field races, your team is only as good as your weakest link. If the baton is dropped it does not matter if all your other team members are the fastest individual members of the field, you still lose the race. Creativity and ubiquitous talent are often overlooked as the primary consideration for design excellence.

In my field, as a small business owner, I must responsible for all the tasks a lead architect requires. Today’s archi-tecture business rests on a unique, highly specialized blend of personal teamwork collaboration and under-standing administratively different ap-proaches of task and venue investiga-tion. Motivation is a large contributor to this collaborative work investment. Understanding what motivates and en-gages positive teamwork are traits that define success. While certain ‘personal-ity traits’ are very real, tangible invest-ments, these are not easily defined, es-pecially if we don’t enjoy what we are doing. The approach to problem solving starts with the attitude first, and this shows in the successful design.

The lead architect controls most indi-vidual contributors and synchronizes their collaboration with positive, in-terdisciplinary communication. From scheduling deadlines to conceptual re-alization and documentation, it is the fluency of this process that defines real progress. The competency for under-standing priorities and needs within a group interface is what enables the ef-fective workforce output. Often in this process specific task resolution is addressed by the appro-priate approach to a design solution. For instance, the parameters defined for resolving mechanical engineering are different from those in structural engineering. Both criteria must meet timetable, budget and scheduling con-siderations, however mechanical de-sign follows after enclosure, envelope specification, building orientation and structural designs are defined. Critical contributions must be congruous if the success of a project is paramount.

What are examples of good manifest leadership? Creative vision and solu-tion-based functionality offer the high-est rewards for design excellence. Here are a few examples.

a. I believe that primary efforts in re-ducing the overall dead loads from floor level to floor level of any high-rise results in taller structures at substan-tial cost savings, with greater structural strength and more intention toward finish upgrades. The result is in more

impressive structures at lower proj-ect cost. Every business is about profit and this consideration drives the lead architect decision tree and the project responsibility. b. An exciting exterior sculptural form eases many of the public relations and marketing efforts of the enterprise you are creating with vast exposure through media internationally. The Burj, the Liege Train station, the Disney Hall and many other such prominent artifices are testimony to architectural design success. (Now if only these buildings would not leak…)

c. Dynamic construction approaches combined with innovative, state of the art construction methodology, certainly contribute to the design success while reducing project waste and schedule overruns. BIM technology and CAD ren-dering technology provide presentation tools essential to a thorough, common understanding of a specifically innova-tive design approach.

Having operated my business for over twenty-five years, I understand that if this process isn’t responsive and the leadership is not enabling, the business will not survive. Synergistic professional interaction is a personal approach con-sideration. I believe it is critical that we hire the people we enjoy working with most.

“Try not to become a man of success, but one of value.” A. Einstein.

This match in character, in qualifica-tions, education, previous experience, project history are important contribu-tions, however ‘compatibility’ consid-erations will not define design. This is not found in resumes, testimonials, in project lists, or through client recom-mendations. The personal evaluation is specific to the one-on-one interview. Here is the crux of getting into that in-terview: Most human resource person-nel are incapable of critical architect qualification evaluation because they are NOT trained either in architecture or in the design field. Their challenge is simply to filter candidates and often this results in inferior decisions in the selection process.

Especially in architecture, there is the need to instill trust in the common vi-sion, which develops in a rather deli-cate, ongoing process. Steven Jobs was a master at motivating all employees to focus on the one commopn, overriding goal: His simplicity in design was an ex-tremely complex developmental path to achieve successfully. Without this trust there is no belief basis, or “faith” - and without those who believe in you, there is not efficient teamwork. Hence your human resource development

determines your business future… and you are only as good as your ‘qualified’ talent pool.

Lee Iacocca, former Chrysler CEO, once elaborated upon the nine best leader-ship character attributes: • Curiosity (read everything, learn

and understand) • Creativity (try something different,

think beyond parameters) • Communication (face responsibil-

ity and tell the truth) • Character (knowing the difference

between right and wrong, and act-ing upon it)

• Charisma (projection of ideas which instill trust)

• Common sense (ability to reason clearly)

• Competency (addressing and solv-ing problems in priority)

• Courage (incentive to negotiate

problems) • Conviction (desire for accomplish-

ment)

Certainly there are many different ways to resolve any design problem. How to accomplish this effectively with great efficiency is what the lead architect strives for. While effective communica-tion is essential, viable solutions in the entitlement process are often negoti-ated far in advance. The motivation to support design excellence is always en-gaging to those involved in the process.

“The most beautiful thing we can ex-perience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” Albert Einstein

my website: www.archwork.com testimonials: www.archwork.com/references/testi-monials.htm

Image © www.channel4.com

Frank Lloyd Wright


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Ironically - Botswana’s original “green” energy savings system was 10 years ahead of it’s time!

Over the past 22 years the well known company Litedek Botswana (Pty.) Ltd trading as SDS, have specialized in the development of suspended concrete flooring systems for use in double & multi-storey buildings.

As Structural Commercial Engineers SDS’s ongoing research policy has resulted in the introduction of more economical & fast track methods of slab construction.

The proprietary Litedek system which was launched at the turn of the 20th century is an example which has without doubt placed Botswana on the map in terms of their long term, ongoing use of this cost effective, lightweight, energy savings system, Litedek incorporates high density polystyrene blocks providing excellent inbuilt insulation and has an ac-credited two hour fire rating status.

Due to the significantly reduced self weight of the slab, the cost of the overall structure including foundations, bases, columns & RC beams is significantly reduced. This fast track system offers savings in construc-tion time, which is halved when compared to other methods of in situ concrete slabs.

Litedek clients include Structural Engineers, Architects, Quantity Sur-veyors, Contractors and increasingly the Clients themselves & many hundreds of large Government & Commercial buildings throughout Botswana have been constructed using this innovative system.

Taking due cognizance of the ever escalating cost of construction, achieving savings by virtue of making use of economical, energy sav-ings engineered products is a fact now taken very seriously by Develop-ers and their Professional Teams.

SDS’s dedicated team is historically known to have an outstanding ser-vice & performance record. This fact combined with their extensive port-folio of projects spanning over 22 Years are critical factors to consider when specifying a supplier on large or small contracts. The demand for the proprietary Litedek System continues to increase for these very reasons.

Clients should be aware that SDS is not associated with businesses marketing copy cat systems & even using the name Litedek. As our new website is not yet on line please contact us on 71324185/71324341 for further details.


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Documents

Boidus Focus - Vol 2, Issue 1 [Feb 2012]