Malcolm and his small enthusiastic team at Biggar Engineering have just completed an interesting project for a rather unique client. US-based NGO, 'Habitat for Humanity,' work mostly in rural areas. “This is their first urban project,” says Malcolm.

“The development comprises 350 units of which 290 are residential, and the balance are retail or light industrial. What makes 'Habitat for Humanity' unique, is that these are not your typical low-cost or sub-economic units. These would sell for between R100 000 and R150 000 per unit. Some are even double-storey units. The development has full-pressure water, water-borne sewage and surfaced roads.”

“This is a 'sweat-equity' scheme. 'Habitat for Humanity' contribute about R22 000 per unit and the Durban Metro supplies all infrastructure. The recipients of the homes are trained in the various disciplines to construct the houses,” says Malcolm.
“Nothing too unique about that globally, but maybe for South Africa. What makes the 'Habitat for Humanity' method so special is that the recipients have to go and teach 'Habitat for Humanity' recipients the skills they have learnt on new developments. The scheme solves a number of problems in a progressive way,” says Malcolm. “While delivering good quality housing, the skills transfer loop keeps getting wider.”

Biggar Engineering is unashamedly committed to the “normalisation of South African society through the empowerment of previously marginalized sectors of the community.” The Biggar Engineering mission statement goes on to say that empowerment in all its forms is an integral part of that normalisation process.

“This project suited my firm. We are trying hard to be responsible engineers. On the Sherwood project we liaised with the communities to develop solutions that they took ownership of. We even pulled an environmentalist on board. Although it's not quite engineering, we went to great lengths to keep the existing vegetation on the site, even moving services on occasion,” says Malcolm. “On the site across the highway, they just flattened everything to a beach and then poured concrete.”

“We learnt that empowerment projects have deadlines just as tight as commercial projects. Sherwood took us 3½-months from brief to tender that's going some for a small practice like ours. We were able to supply solutions with the software and brilliant support from the team at Knowledge Base,” says an appreciative Malcolm.
 

“We used Civil Designer, Road, Storm, Water and Sewer on the project. The guys at Knowledge Base often worked with us - Cedric here in Durban and the guys in Cape Town, they all bought into the project.”

While we are looking for more challenging projects, our intention is to achieve our goals slowly and to be respected for the work we do, and importantly, how we do that work,” says Malcolm. “The staff are all empowered here, they are encouraged to participate the job is a major part of our lives,” says Malcolm.
 

Technician Jermaine Maistry was selected carefully and has been with Malcolm for 2½ years. “I didn't expect to be able to handle a project of this magnitude,” says a delighted Jermaine. “Like everyone here, I'm really proud of what we achieved at Sherwood. It's a deep feeling that fills me up.”

“The service we got from Knowledge Base was the same as we like to deliver to our clients. The Civil Designer package is a world-class program. On the Sherwood project we moved to the next level. I am really looking forward to being a 'co-developer' on the next project.”