The house that cannot burn
A fireproof house? Yes, you read that right. Knysna residents have been curious to find out what the new building being constructed at Loerie Park is for. Passers-by, club members and the Loerie Park faithful among others have seen how the building has gradually taken shape day by day. With a big fence surrounding it and two large yellow tanks of water beside it, there lies the house of the future.
According to construction manager Sibosiso Ntshanyana, the purpose of the building is to be a demonstration. It’s an example of the 200 fireproof houses that will be built in White Location. The house is being erected at Loerie Park because the municipality allocated the space for this specific project.
“The construction is expected to finish at the end of the month, at which point the demo house will be set on fire to showcase that the house is fireproof. It is as yet still undetermined what will happen to the demo house after we are finished with it,” said Ntshanyana.
“We are doing this here so that perceptions will change on the houses we will be building. People can come here and see for themselves that the demonstration house did not burn down.”
“The 18 workers on the site are employed by Environmental Affairs. The construction began in January and all that is still left, is to do the roof and windows.” Ntshanyana said that the building will still be usable after the fire demonstration. “After we are done with it, it can then be used as a changing room or clubhouse by the soccer team, for example.”
There are no set dates yet for when the demonstration building will be torched nor when the 200 houses will be built, but Ntshanyana expects to receive confirmation on the former in the next few days.