Mission Statement & Design Criteria

The goal of this project was to design a three-dimensional virtual model to represent a vision of the Oude Molen Eco Village; specifically focusing on expansion and analysis of opportunities for housing, business, sustainability and community.

Taking into account the priorities set by the Provincial Government and the OMEV Tenants Association, our group established a design process and adopted design objectives. The Provincial Government’s vision for the future includes the following elements:

  • Generate economic activity and create new jobs and opportunities for empowerment
  • City that comes alive as a diverse, globally connected and socially inclusive space that encourages an entrepreneurial culture and provides a welcoming and inspiring place for socially mixed communities
  • Demonstrates sustainability in relation to the beauty of green and blue spaces, water and energy resources, the diversity and value of locally produced food and the resources which citizens and businesses recycle
  • Types of property transaction achieves socio-economic and sustainability return
  • Inspire and lead the way for replication elsewhere

The OMEV Tenant Association has its own objectives complimenting those of the Provincial Government. Those that pertain most to our visual model:

  • An inclusive place for all cultural, community, economic classes and groups to visit and interact with one another
  • A balanced building densification “as much as what is necessary to ensure financial viability” approach, that also ensures a sense of space and public interaction urban park character
  • Generate a justifiable rental income from the OMEV property for Provincial Government.

Through reviewing the Provincial Government and OMEVTA goals, we compiled our own list of objectives:

  • Create job opportunities for Oude Molen & surrounding communities
  • Respond to South Africa’s growing housing demands in a mixed income environment
  • Create a community with a diverse public space encouraging social activity through the unique resources available on the property.
  • Underpin a self-sustaining entity generating justifiable income for the Provincial Government
  • Capitalize on readily available renewable resources to create an ecologically sustainable community beneficial to surrounding neighbourhoods