The Terrace House

In order to avoid confusion we, as the developers of the proposed terrace apartments at 149 Beach Road Gordon's Bay wish to clarify a few points. It should be noted that the proposed Terrace House is not a block of flats, but rather a multi storey structure consisting of 13 apartments where each floor steps backwards along the original terrain. There will be landscaped planting areas at the end of each floor (balcony) which would serve to soften the visual impact of the proposed development. The proposed Terrace House will, in essence, follow the slope of the property and will be less of a visual intrusion on the landscape than many of the existing single residential dwellings located in Gordon's Bay. This is clearly indicated on the attached photo, where the proposed development can be seen in relation to the adjoining single residential dwellings.

As it can be seen, the proposal cannot be viewed as an 8 storey tower block as has been mentioned in various reports. We, being property owners and investors in the Gordon's Bay area also support the need for the village to uphold a certain standard of character. We believe that this proposal will serve to enhance the character of the area. This project will provide much needed investment within an area where many dwellings/properties are being developed to attract people and investment into Gordon's Bay. This can be seen in the establishment of many guest houses and B&B's in this area of the village. The main aim of this development is to provide residential opportunities within the Gordon's Bay village in a manner that reduces the impact of the motor vehicle. This will assist Gordon’s Bay's ability to remain one of the most attractive towns by taking the parked vehicle off the street and placing them where they cannot be seen. The Terrace House will hopefully be the first step to Gordon's Bay placing more of an emphasis on pedestrian movement and the introduction of cycling as a viable mode of transport.

The proposed Terrace House in Gordon’s Bay, was developed/designed by Swisatec Architects. It is aimed to be environmentally friendly and efficient. It is designed in such a manner as to have less of a visual impact than many of the monstrous residential buildings that surround the proposal. Furthermore, the cars are parked underground so that the village is not overrun by the impact of cars parked along the street. There are very few existing houses, guest houses, Bed & Breakfasts, which provide sufficient off-street parking as is proposed with our development.

As with any city/town in the world, there will always be increased pressure for development as time goes by. With the emphasis being placed (by all the planning authorities) of the establishment of the Urban Edge, there is an increased need for the densification of the existing urban areas to meet the increased pressure for development. The Provincial Spatial Development Framework highlights this and supports the selective densification of existing urban areas, where this densification is sensitive to the character of the surrounding area. The proposed Terrace House has been designed in such a manner as to achieve this densification requirement, whilst maintaining the existing visual character of the area. This can be seen in the attached picture, where the adjoining single residential dwelling has a far greater visual impact than the proposed Terrace House.