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ECO DESIGN TEAM

ANDY RAYMOND HORN

BAS (UCT 1990), B. Arch (UCT 1995), Pr. Arch (SACAP) #7264, M. SAIA, M. CIfA #7348

GENERAL

Andy Horn is a qualified professional architect with over 24 years of experience with the design and construction of natural buildings. With a passion for the environment, he established his own architectural practice in 1998, called Eco Design – Architects & Consultants.

The practice has had a strong emphasis on the use of local natural materials, involving user participation and on-site training. Andy has often had to apply a personal hands-on approach to parts of the construction, involving physical building and training work. This continues to inform his art in the use of natural materials especially in straw bale, earth building and masonry dome construction. Clients have included: Namaqua National Parks, Mondi Forests, WESSA, Conservation International, International Fauna and Flora, Eskom, National Water Saving Campaign, South African Heritage Resource Agency, Hantam Municipality, City of Cape Town as well as numerous individual private clients, businesses and development planning teams.

Aside from practicing architecture, he has written numerous articles, published papers and photographs as well as illustrated books and pamphlets. He has also been a key note speaker and exhibited both locally and internationally. He also gives lectures on environmental design and holds natural building and participatory design workshops.

QUALIFICATIONS / EDUCATION

October 2012 Competent Person – Energy Usage in Buildings in accordance with SANS10400XA.
March 2005 Professional Accreditation, Registered as professional architect with the South African Council of the Architectural Professions and Institute of Architecture.
November 1998 Certificate in Eco Village Design, (Cape Town) by GEN the Global Eco Village Network.
Sept – Dec 1997 New Alliance Française Cultural Centre, as project architect for ACG architects and CRATerre-EAG consultants (Compressed Earth Brick Technology and boron treated pole roofing) in Mitchell’s Plain,Cape Town
April 1997
University of Grenoble, France
August 1996
Permaculture Design Course, (Cape Town) by permaculture teacher- Jeremy Burnham.
June 1995
Bachelor of Architecture (University of Cape Town) graduation.
November 1990
Bachelor of Architectural Studies (University of Cape Town) graduation

In the video below Andy Horn gives a short 6 minute overview of his work as an Architect. He also talks about what initially inspired him to study Architecture and why it was so significant to choose the route of sustainable design.

This video was made in the context of the Daimler-Chrysler Award for South African Architecture 2007. Andy was one of the 8 architects nominated to receive the Daimler Chrysler Award for displaying exceptional talent in the field of architecture in South Africa.

ANSGAR VON OERTZEN

Professional Architect (University of Stuttgart, 2005), Geomancy Practitioner (School for Geomancy and Feng Shui, Germany, Hagia Chora, 2006)

GENERAL

Angar is a qualified professional architect who holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Stuttgart, Germany. He holds a vast amount of experience in architectural design & alternative building technology accrued over 20 Years of being engaged in the field.

He first joined the Eco Design team in early 2007 and quickly became invaluable to the business with his abilities that stretch across the scope of a project.

With his keen eye for conceptual sustainable design, his way of dealing with the client, developing briefs with them presenting sketch design. Perfect accuracy and workmanship on CAD Detailed Drawings and through to effectively supervising site operations to realise the visions of both Client and Architect in reality.

He holds an additional skillset that has put the team ahead in the field of Geomancy, the study of the influence of the naturally occurring energy fields of the earth.

QUALIFICATIONS / EDUCATION

November 2005
Master of Architecture (Diplom) at University of Stuttgart, Germany
November 2006 Geomancy Practitioner training at School for Geomancy and Feng Shui, Germany, Hagia Chora




THIJS VAN DER HORST

Architectural Draftsman (Inscape Design 2012), C.A.D (SACAP) #CAD-2132

GENERAL

Thijs is a qualified architectural draftsman with over eight years of experience working with natural buildings. Drawn to the vision, values and purpose of Eco Design – Architects & Consultants, he joined the team in late 2011 as an intern and went on to take on a full-time position shortly after.

Under Andy's direction, Thijs has gained first-hand experience with a host of natural building methodologies and has learnt how to incorporate the best of them into modern, high-performance buildings. He handles the building envelope or materials performance analysis, energy usage, shading & glass area analysis for the team.

He is skilled and capable with the industry-leading BIM software programs, giving the practice the ability to realize designs in 3D and draw invaluable information from the building model.

Thijs has jointly hosted participation workshops and on-site training events. He has trained and orientated several local and international student interns over the years. With his integral understanding of the business, he assists Andy in staying true to the vision, values and purpose set out in the Manifesto for Green Architecture.

QUALIFICATIONS / EDUCATION

November 2011
Diploma in Architectural Drafting at Inscape Design College
January 2013
Professional Accreditation, Registered as draftsman with the South African Council of the Architectural Professions
November 2017

Diploma in Advanced Leadership and Management

MADELINE VAN DER BERG

Architectural Technologist ( CPUT 2017), Pr.ArchT (SACAP) # 54351906

GENERAL

Madeleine is a registered Architectural Technologist and joined Eco Design – Architects & Consultants in 2016 as an intern,
as part of her in-service training, becoming part of the team after her graduation in 2017.

Inspired by nature to live an eco-friendly life, her mission in architecture is to make use of locally sourced natural, renewable, low embodied carbon and recycled materials in construction involving passive solar design and natural building technology to thereby ensure minimum energy consumption with less of a negative impact on the environment, while having a positive impact on the health and well being of building occupants.

With Eco Design's founder Andy Horn's guidance, she helps transform his visions and concept designs to council submission and working drawing documentations, assisting with design and problem solving.

Her growth and development is also informed by her practical experience and knowledge gained from participating in hands-on workshops,  which improves her understanding of natural building methodologies and is then implemented into the production and documentation of her architectural work,
In  2015 she attended an Adobe brick making course in Rocklands  Permaculture Training Centre, in Cape Town hosted by Andy. Then in 2017 she attended a Sustainable Building workshop hosted by Natural Building Collective in Delft Cape Town and in 2019 a Straw bale Building  workshop in Hilton, KZN hosted by Andy Horn. From 2020-2021 she voluntarily participated in various natural building projects around the Eastern Cape as she continues to seek greater insight and knowledge in the field of natural ecological building and design.

QUALIFICATIONS / EDUCATION

November 2017
Diploma in Architectural Technology at Cape Peninsula University of Technology
January 2020
Professional Accreditation, Registered as professional Architectural Technologist with the South African Council for the Architectural Profession
 
Nieuwoudtville Award

Eco Design Architects was awarded the Holcim Award for Sustainable Construction 2005 & took silver in the Africa and Middle East Region for their designs for the Nieuwoudtville Caravan Site Upgrade

Click here for more info on the award.

 

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dome001.jpg

Eco Design is also specialized in dome construction. A couple of dome structures have been built. Click below to view images

Project 1

Project 2

We offer a number of construction & info manuals on our website on natural building technologies which specifically refer to the South African context. The info manual "A LIME DUNG PLASTER RECIPE" has recently been added to the collection.   Click here for more information.

All our manuals are also now available as E-Book downloads. Click here for the E-Books.