+IMPACT MAGAZINE ISSUE 18

GREEN STAR
GREEN STAR
TRANSFORM TOMORROW
THE PLACES CATEGORY
The PLACES category is an exciting addition to the Green Star rating system with
its inclusion in the Green Star New Building version 2 tool that is currently under
development. It ensures that people are placed at the forefront of design by facilitating
a focus on how buildings are integrated into the existing urban fabric to create spaces
that increase social cohesion.
WORDS Adrie Fourie
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report
2022 identified social cohesion corrosion as one
of the top short- and medium-term global risks in
31 countries, including South Africa. According
to the report (2022:16), economic, political, technological
and intergenerational inequality “was already challenging
societies even before income disparities increased through
the pandemic”, and it is anticipated that these disparities
will now widen even further.
The report goes on to describe the erosion of social
cohesion as the “loss of social capital and a fracture of
social networks negatively impacting social stability,
individual wellbeing, and economic productivity as a
result of persistent public anger, distrust, divisiveness,
lack of empathy, marginalisation of minorities, political
polarisation etc”. (2022:94)
Perhaps the most subjective and difficult to refine
categories of the new tool, the PLACES category also
creates a very direct link to the decision-making processes
behind asset development and real estate risk assessment.
The adage, “location, location, location,” is the driving
force and we view this category of an extension of the
extensive investigative work the developer and their assets
investigations teams would have undertaken to identify
the project location. It should build on the work already
done, and present information to the full design team in
a manner that will ensure that all the opportunities and
challenges are taken into consideration to ensure that
appropriate responsive design interventions are identified.
As head of the sustainable cities and research department
at Solid Green and the PLACES category director, I was
supported by a fantastic and knowledgeable team that has
worked tirelessly for the past six months to identify the
local contextualisation prospective design teams would
consider as part of the tool localisation process. I believe
that we can facilitate meaningful change in how our cities
and neighbourhoods are created, what these spaces would
look like, and how these places will function. By including
location and context sensitive design directives, which
will require the full design team to review and respond
with integrated design solutions, buildings will no longer
operate in isolation from their surroundings. It will be
possible to create systems that organically interconnect,
for the betterment of the end user experience and longevity
of the asset, while the risk associated with location is
fully understood and appropriately addressed – through
this category along with others contained within the tool.
Peter Stokes, architect, and partner at dhk Architects
provided insight into place making best practice, urban
design guidelines that drive good design and site context
analysis, which teams will usually undertake at the start of
the project. He also noted that, if some of this information
is not shared with the integrated design team at the outset,
it can result in limiting design responses.
The PLACES category highlights the
imperative that building design is no
longer regarded in isolation.
Marc Sherratt, founder, and sustainability architect at
MSSA, provided insight into the culture, heritage and
identity elements linked to the category. Of the process
and the category details he commented, “As a nation
we have a leadership role to play in the green building
movement and how it applies to this transitional stage
between the industrial and ecological ages of human
civilisation. Questioning how we can create better, safer
and more equitable spaces in a country notorious for its
inequality gives great weight to the words we have carefully
proposed for this new green building rating tool.”
Zendré Compion, professional architect, sustainability
consultant, and owner of Common Space focused on the
importance of movement and connectivity. “Sustainable
buildings cannot be islands. Every site is unique and will
therefore have to respond differently through designing in
sustainable mobility or responding to infrastructure and
services that already exist beyond the site – which we tried
to capture with the transport-focused credit.”
The PLACES category highlights the imperative that
building design is no longer regarded in isolation. It is
essential to unpack, assess and manage the potential
impacts that a project can have. For the real estate sector,
this means that impacts are measured over more than
one re-sale cycle to really understand the risk associated
with a specific investment. For design teams, this means
using the contextual understanding of a site to define
design responses that are aimed at maximising the positive
impacts while limiting the negatives that a building can
have on the wider surroundings.
There are three credits in the PLACES category that
the team have been investigating:
- Contribution to Place. This credit is aimed at placemaking
and city scape formation with consideration
to inclusivity and diversity in design. The focus will
fall on ensuring an integrated design team response is
developed to respond to the contextual opportunities
and challenges of a site, while ensuring projects create
accessible spaces that can contribute to community
building and interactive engagement. For those spaces,
design teams will also have the opportunity to create
activation strategies that will remain with the building,
as a guide to future end on how to use those spaces
effectively, to ensure those spaces are always places for
lively interaction with a positive contribution not only
to the site, but also its surroundings.
- Movement and Connectivity. Encourages mobile
diversity that builds on the opportunities of a building’s
design and location to encourage occupants and visitors
use active, low carbon and public transport options
instead of private vehicles. Depending on the specific
project context analysis, specific emphasis could then
be placed on interventions that encourage walkability
through improving amenity access, pedestrianisation
of the environment or the provision of showers and
lockers. There will also be an opportunity for projects
to consider how public transport can be given a more
prominent role.
- Culture, Heritage and Identity. This is perhaps the
most reflective credit of the category. Teams are urged to
find appropriate ways to reflect the local culture, heritage
and identity by publicly demonstrable design interventions.
These could include community art or placemaking
projects; the selection of local labour/suppliers/designers
for complete artwork or cultural element manufacture;
significant publicly visible building elements that tell
stories of local social and/or environmental past and
heritage; and/or significant public spaces and uses that
reflect local identities.
Where credits within other categories of these tools
are aimed at creating climate responsive buildings, the
intent of the PLACES category and its respective credits
is to identify people-centric design solutions that invite
and accommodate occupants and visitors on site in ways
that are memorable and rewarding.
The goal is to create an asset that is unique to its location,
is responsive to the external opportunities and challenges
that the site offers, and that takes advantage of the
opportunity the building and its immediate surroundings
will have to converse with passers-by every day. The goal is
to create a dialogue that will build stronger communities,
create networks and support wider neighbourhood
resilience for any future shocks and stresses that we might
face in the cities of the future.
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