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July 2016
Housing
‘Water tanks installed
around the complex are able to
provide 1 200 litres of water a
day to each household for three
full days in the event of a water
supply problem.’
The Edge requires a fair-sized court-
yard area inwhich residents can cook.
Since the process tends to generate a
lot of wastematerial, it was necessary
toprovide awaste area for every block
in the complex, rather than just one
for the entire complex.
“The client, Henry Lubwama,
wanted to develop something special
on the site,” says Cole. There is not
much in the way of original develop-
ment in Kampala at the moment.
There is a great deal of replication,
and residential complexes tend not to
be well planned or to accommodate
Ugandan lifestyles.”
The development consists of three
residential blocks and a clubhouse.
Amenities include a children’s play-
ground and jogging track as well as
an entertainment area. The residen-
tial blocks are between four and six
storeys in height, and are served by
elevators.
“The client has undertaken to im-
prove the road to the complex at his
own expense. This includes surfacing
the roads (which are otherwise dirt),
managing storm water runoff, and
planting pavements. Unlike in South
Africa, this is not expected of develop-
ers in Uganda,” says Cole.
The Edge has been designed to
appeal to the young andmiddle class
market. Furthermore, the complex
is fully equipped to provide backup
power and water to all units. Since
power supply can be unreliable, each
unit has the ability to be fitted with
an inverter. Water tanks installed
around the complex are able to pro-
vide 1 200 litres of water a day to each
household for three full days in the
event of a water supply problem. The
team even had
to provide for
proper sewage
disposal from
the site, which
has been done
by mean s o f
sharing a prop-
erly designed
m i n i s ewa ge
treatment plant with a neighbouring
development.
Whilst MWCA has undertaken all
the conceptual and design work on
The Edge, the full professional team
in Uganda also includes a local archi-
tect of record, as required by law. This
architectural firm, SASA, headedby Dr
Kenneth Ssemwogerere, is actively
involved in daily site management.
Cole reports that theworking process
as a team has been smooth, comfort-
able and collaborative. “We have had
many workshop sessions together
to ensure that everyone is able to
implement best practices and towork
optimally as a team,” he says.
One of the aspects of the job, which
hasneededmoreattentionthanusual,
has been the development of generic
specification documents for the con-
tractor towork from. “Ugandadoesn’t
currently have legislated building
codes, although the authorities are
working on implementing something
in the near future. However, based
on our experience in Africa, we are
familiarwith theprocess of generating
functional and performance-based
specification documents, which are
largely based on British or European
standards. For example, rather than
specifying a branded product, the
specification needs to describe how
the product must perform and what
materials it must
be made of,” he
elaborates.
While projects
such as this may
not afford archi-
tects from South
Africa the com-
fort of the famil-
iar systems and
formulas, MWCA’s philosophy is that
adaptability, flexibility and the will-
ingness to learn ultimately make for
a stronger practice all round.
He says that old and accepted
ideas can be challenged, “whilst ev-
eryone involved in a project has the
opportunity to broaden their knowl-
edge.” It is clear that this approach,
combined with the firm’s long-estab-
lished reputation in the residential
market has served it well. While The
Edge is progressing smoothly, the
company has since been appointed
by the same client to undertake an-
other residential development near
Lake Victoria.
MWCA has positioned itself well to
be able to take on a wide variety of
work for a range of clients in different
sectors. The company is now at a size
where it is willing and able to take on
projects large and small and retain
relationships with long-standing
clients.
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