Landscaping Students go hands-on at CPUT

More than 100 Landscape Architecture students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) were tasked with transforming a vacant courtyard at the Belville campus Horticulture building late last year.   The purpose was to turn it into a welcoming and user-friendly space.

The Corobrik-CPUT partnership started in 2013 with Corobrik providing lectures and building materials to the university’s Landscape Architecture students. This empowers them with both the conceptual knowledge and practical experience needed for landscaping. Ahead of the week-long programme, students attend a series of construction lectures during the semester as a build-up, focusing on hard and soft construction drawings, theory and specification.

Musa Shangase, Corobrik Commercial director, said the 6-year partnership had proven invaluable to the programme which was ensuring the country’s Landscape Architects are well-equipped for their chosen professions.

“Corobrik always seeks to upskill the construction and architecture industries wherever possible as this benefits everyone and contributes to a stronger build sector in future,” explained Shangase. “One of the ways this can be done is through the CPUT Construction Week which provides students with vital real-world experience, while also affording them the chance to interact with manufacturers, industry members and professional bodies at the workshop.”

For the 2019 programme, Corobrik sponsored 600 Meadow and Constantia pavers and 900 Constantia and Sandstone Travertine face bricks for revisioning of a dilapidated courtyard space, into an area of aesthetic appeal and practical use. This included paving and hard landscape surface treatments such as ornamental gravel, tree and groundcover planting and tree staking. Students had the opportunity to learn about technical construction which incorporated material and plant specifications, construction detailing, drawings and documentation.

Going forwards, this space will be used for ongoing student training, planting experiments and other practical projects covered by the curriculum. In addition to the sponsorship, Corobrik assisted with ongoing guidance for the students and evaluation of their overall progress.

Oelofse said a bonus of the programme was that other university students were able to benefit from the enhanced urban area and the many aesthetic and environmental benefits associated with Corobrik’s clay pavers.

Lecturer, Johan van Rooyen, charged with crafting and implementing the project, extended his congratulations to the students for a successful week: “The CPUT Construction Week helps students gain valuable practical experience and a solid understanding of landscape construction and product specification. It also provides student with the opportunity to find industry placement for workplace-based learning. On completion of the project, we find the students have built their confidence and surpassed their own expectations with regards to their landscaping achievements.”

Van Rooyen expressed his gratitude to Corobrik for, once again, providing sponsorship: “Construction week cannot be a success without industry participation. A big thanks to Corobrik, the South African Landscapers Institute – who assisted with workplace-based learning and the installation - the university staff and students for all making this project such a success.”