THLALEFO MOURURI 21603566

SIMANGA NJAPHA 21609376

SIFISO SIBIYA 21408816
ZAMABHACA MAKHATHINI 21648453

HOUSING IV
ASSIGNMENT 03

INNER CITY REGENARATION

Declaration of authorship of work

By uploading this work for assessment, I hereby declare that the following project that I am
submitting is my own original work. The project as a whole and everything that comprises
the project was compiled or completed on my own. This applies to both the conception and
execution of the work. All precedent, images, plans et cetera and any borrowed ideas of
CONENTS PAGE
Project Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
Case study .…..……………………………………………………………..…………………………………. 4
- Historical background
- Architecture
- Location
Main issues of the building…………………………………………………………………………..…. 5
Design Implementation…...………..…………………………………..…………………………. 6 & 7
Design Implementation Proposal…...…………….………………..………. 8, 9 , 10, 11 & 12
Reference List…………………………….…………………………………………………………. 13 & 14

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 INTRODUCTION :
Project involves choosing a local example, in Durban, which is
dilapidated or an old derelict, and are tasked with devising a
housing plan of intervention for it.

INNER CITY REGENERATION

What is Inner City Regeneration? It is generally referred area
near the centre of a city, usually associated with social and
economic problems. It is an older part of a city, densely
populated and usually deteriorating, inhabited mainly by
poor, often minority, foreign groups. Regeneration may be
associated through other names, Renewal, Revitalization. This
process, involves the of regenerating or the state of being
regenerated, of a city as stated by Ogunsanya (2019: 2).

Ogunsanya (2019: 2) states that these places are normally

Figure 2: Inner city regeneration diagram. characterised by High unemployment, Crime, violence, drugs,
https://www.uclg-planning.org (2019).
visual Pollution(Graffiti), high demand for affordable housing,
large influx of immigrants etc.

The general causes for those outcomes are

• Delays in the approval of projects by the government

agency, responsible for the escalation of house prices.
• Developers encounter financial problems during
development.
• Delay in the issuance of Certificate of Fitness for
Occupation although the building has been completed.
• Developers take a deposit and keep it or use it for
Figure 3: Image depicting regeneration. Available: another project being developed elsewhere, at the
http://www.szhkbiennale.org (2019). same time.
• Construction work is not in accordance to specifications
and construction work is incomplete.

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2 EPSOM ROAD
Figure 4: Original elevation of building.
Pallat (2014).
Figure 5: Aerial map of building. Available:
www.gis.durban.gov.za. (2014).
Figure 6: Aerial view of the building.
Available: www.google.com/maps. 2019.
Figure 7: View of Front Entrance. Available:
www.google.com/maps. 2019.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The building was built in 19xx, and therefore falling under
the Amafa rules, due to the building being older than 60
years. The buildings original use was being the headquarters
of the St John’s Ambulance Brigade and with time got used
by the Natal Tennis Union and then later used as a club for
the Portuguese community according to Attwood (2009: 1).
ARCHITECTURE:
The buildings façade reflects a neo-classicism style, with
classical columns, Pediments, doors, cottage windows /
cape-Dutch sliding sash windows.
The building is made up of concrete slabs and columns, and
standard clay-bricks for walls, and asbestos sheeting for the
roof. The roof structure is made up of wood, and it makes
use of a standard gable roof and has windows cottage
wooden framed windows.
LOCATION:
The building is located near the Durban CBD, on the
intersection between Ingcube road and Epsom road. The
building at the moment is classified as a business zone, but is
being used as an illegal residential place. There are some
green zones with public open space surround the building,
and other functions include general business and residential
zones. The economic strata of the area one could consider it
average or below average, with multiple small business
outlets and municipal services for the public.
The building is now considered a hijacked building with
illegal local and foreign tenants making its occupancy. This
building and environment makes it fall under the
characteristics through inner city regeneration.
Through this case study we'll analyse the aspects which have
lead this building to being in the state that its in, and apply
theoretical solutions, which will be portrayed in our design
resolution.
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MAIN ISSUES &
PROBLEMS:
Though was built officially due to an array of reasons like
poor maintenance it became abandoned and has now
been ‘hi-jacked’. This dilapidated building is problematic as
this not only ruins the aesthetic of the streetscape but also
the property value in the area, anything near this building
will suffer because of it.
Timeslive (2017: 1) explains that, “These apartment blocks
are occupied by the indigent who pay rentals to an enforcer
collecting money illegally - without delivering any services‚
which often have been disconnected prior to them moving
in. Some of the “hijacked buildings” have been turned into
havens for prostitution and drug abuse.” Though the
context may not be the same both deal with ‘hi-jacking’ of
buildings, and phenomena like an increased crime rate,
drug dealing and prostitution can easily materialize.
Another huge issue is that places like these usually have
large influxes of immigrants, poor quality public spaces and
even with the self appointed landlord/ landlady they do
not provide any services to the tenants but still expect
rent. Lastly, these buildings have tenants living illegally,
living in hazardous environments with spaces that have
Figure 8: Source: Author (2019) been visually and physically polluted. Ogunsanya (2019: 8)
In addition, Nene (2012: 1) states that…”mounting
maintenance, water and lights bills forced the association
to quit the building in 2007 and organised table tennis in
the city went into decline, and with it the valuable role it
played fostering sport in Durban’s townships.
Naidoo said the building, which is owned by the
municipality and has heritage status, is a far cry from its
former glory.”

Figure 9: Source: Author (2019)

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DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION
The existing construction is in very poor condition and the
area in which the building is situated in is densely
populated with a group of low-income class.
Buildings in this area are declined and decayed, thus the
brief asked for an intervention in the form of a housing
plan.
The objective is to activate the area and create a new
building that will accommodate apartments and retail and
office spaces. Mixed-use Developments act as a tool to
treat blight and decayed areas, initially in the project itself
and subsequently as catalyst for further development.
(Ogunsanya, 2019)

The building will act as a catalyst for improving and

addressing problems that are present in the area, and the
issue of unemployment is one of them. We aim to provide
good quality rental housing in an area that we feel is in
need of urban regeneration, hence why we chose the
building. There are excellent existing transportation
infrastructure and amenities close by, which includes a
hospital, schools and shops.
The guiding principles for our rental housing strategy are
similar to those identified by the Department of Human
Settlements which are; to extend the range of affordable
tenure and housing choice to low and moderate income
households, promote and encourage the rental tenure
option as a critical provider of accommodation, and assist
the economic and racial integration of our cities and urban
spaces to assist the previously disadvantaged to gain
access to socio-economic resources available in these
areas. (Human Settlement, 2012)
So, our target market will be the low-income persons who
are broadly defined as those whose income is below
R7500 per month. Our plan will look to primarily cover the
rental tenure option which excludes immediate individual
ownership by the residents.

Design resolutions

A mixed-use development, to resolve the issue of

unemployment and demands for affordable housing. Also,
this will help “populate and activate the neighbourhood
during both day and evening hours” (Ogunsanya, 2019), by
simply having people from the area coming to the
development for work during the day and others to their
apartments during and after hours.

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DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION
Design resolutions

The building will address the issue of security by “creating

a central courtyard area that will create an intermediate
filter between the road and the privacy of the apartments”
(Pittau, 2015), the courtyard will also act as a natural
connection that is capable of connecting the tenants and
creating a healthy social environment. This will also help
create a safer environment for the tenants as there is
currently a dodgy setting in and outside the existing
building.

The new building will be entirely re-thought in its internal

and external lay-out, this is due to the fact that the existing
construction is decaying if not completely decayed- this
will help create certainty with the safety and comfort of its
users. The central core of the building will remain
unchanged and the elevations will be completely changed
to a more modern style.

The building will be characterised by a strongly developed

volume, with a profile which has five floors above ground
(including retail and office floors) and a new roof (flat roof)
that will be composed of walkable sections and green
areas and will be designed to include laundry lines.

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Figure 10: Source: Author (2019) 8
Figure 11: Source: Author (2019) 9
Figure 12: Source: Author (2019)
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 3 D I M P R E S S I O N:

Figure 13: Source: Author (2019)

Figure 14: Source: Author (2019)

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 3 D I M P R E S S I O N S:

Figure 15: Source: Author (2019)

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REFERENCES :
Ogunsanya, L. 2019. Lecture 07: Inner city Regeneration,
lecture notes distributed in the Architectural lecture room,
Durban University of Technology, 6 September 2019.

Pittau, F., 2015. Arketipo magazine. [Online]

Available at: https://www.arketipomagazine.it/en/tete-en-
lair-in-paris-france-koz-architectes-2/
[Accessed 08 September 2019].

Hijacked buildings - What they are‚ and what City of

Johannesburg is doing about them (online). 2017. Available:
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2017-07-
05-hijacked-buildings-what-they-are-and-what-city-of-
johannesburg-is-doing-about-them/ (Accessed 06 August
2019).

Human Settlement, 2012. Looking Ahead: The KwaZulu-

Natal Rental Housing Strategic Plan 2012-2017, Durban: the
Department of Human settlements.

Nene, N. 2012. Building ‘in sad state’. IOL (online), 06

December 2012. Available:
https://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/opinion/building-in-sad-
state-1436743 (09 September 2019).

Figure 1: Source: Author (2019).

Figure 2: Inner city regeneration diagram (Online). Available:

https://www.uclg-planning.org/public-space-urban-renewal
(Accessed 6 September 2019).

Figure 3: Image depicting inner city regeneration (Online).

Available: http://www.szhkbiennale.org (Accessed 6
September 2019).

Figure 4: Figure 4: Original elevation of building. Pallat. P.

208. Studio-work 3, Lecture notes Durban University of
Technology, 6 September 2019.

Figure 5: Aerial map of building. Available:

http://gis.durban.gov.za/ethekwinimunicipality/viewer/cgis
PublicViewer.html. (Accessed 6 September 2014).

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REFERENCES :
Figure 6: Aerial view of the building. Available:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/2+Epsom+Rd,+Durba
n+Central,+Durban,+4001/@-
29.850074,31.0161443,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x1ef7a9db
304e797f:0xaa7c8eeac9038fc1!8m2!3d-
29.850074!4d31.018333. (Accessed 6 September 2014).

Figure 7: View of Front Entrance. Available:

www.google.com/maps. (Accessed 6 September 2014).

Figure 8 - 15: Source: Author (2019)

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