The Sustainable Middle Class project

PHOTOS Greg Cox PRODUCTION Etienne Hanekom WORDS Alma Viviers

The Swartland town of Riebeek-Kasteel is home to a shed covered with corrugated iron, the embodiment of artist Jacques Coetzer’s “Sustainable Middle Class project”.

Two Volvo station wagons in the driveway, two dogs on the veranda and a pocket of Kikuyu grass displaying a trampoline baking in the sun – at first glance nothing unusual for an Afrikaans middle-class family. But Jacques Coetzer – artist, father and breadwinner – loves paradoxes and contradictions, as seen in his concept of a “Sustainable Middle Class”.

“My entire existence feels like a paradox,” he explains over a cup of coffee. “The middle class is my home ground. This is where I’ve positioned myself, to question and undermine it from the inside.”

Then there’s the whole question of sustainability. “Like most people, I have such good intentions to live more self-sufficiently but sometimes feel I’m a hopeless squanderer. Sustainability is a hassle for ordinary people. I started playing around with the idea that if you can change the middle class to be more sustainable, you can change the world.”

The Sustainable Middle Class concept took hold when Jacques and his wife, Leán, a choreographer and artist, decided to bid goodbye to the green suburbs of the Jacaranda City after 40 years.

It was a decision spurred on by their daily struggle in traffic, the wave of suburban development, the underlying paranoia about personal safety and the never-ending assault on the spending power of urbanites – all themes echoed in Jacques’ work.

Inspired by modernistic principles

So, in 2009, the Coetzer family decamped to Riebeek-Kasteel, where Jacques became  an architect and builder to create a new home for his proudly middle-class family.

He is inspired by Scandinavian aesthetics and modernistic principles, so designed a modular house, making the inside spaces interchangeable and allowing for easy extension in the future. He also kept the layout and materials “as standard as possible” in an attempt to keep the building affordable.

The sharp incline of the terrain was the deciding factor in erecting a steel structure, and for this Jacques called in the help of a barn builder from Malmesbury.

The basic structure – it looks like a shed cut in half – took only two days to assemble. The outside of the frame was covered in corrugated iron, the inside with plywood, while reinforced fibre-cement panels were used as floorboards.

“I thought these would be the better choices but when we started ordering the materials, I discovered that the corrugated iron comes from Australia and the floorboards from Thailand, resulting in an enormous carbon footprint.” Jacques therefore needed new ideas.

In the Swartland, one of the greatest challenges is dealing with the sweltering summer heat. Shadecloth eases the effects of the morning sun, while the paperbark thorn trees planted on the western side of the property aid the performance of the low energy evaporative cooling system inside.

The family cooks with gas, and the geyser and light bulbs are all energy-efficient models. Parts of the living area and kitchen walls are painted with blackboard paint, allowing them to easily keep track of their electricity and gas usage.

In touch with the environment

The Coetzers are not only more aware of their consumption, they are also more in touch with their environment. The veranda offers an incredible view over the Riebeek Valley – a veritable food basket with its wheat fields, vineyards and olive groves.

Leán recounts how they are less tempted to spend money as there aren’t that many shops around. The town is small so they walk or cycle everywhere – no more sitting in traffic to take Jan and Juliana to school. Although the property is smaller than the one they left behind in Pretoria, the children have more freedom – the quieter streets and public areas are also their playground.

The Coetzers say they feel much safer in Riebeek-Kasteel. “Initially, the plan was to build a typical high wall around the house but after a while we realised that a low garden wall would work,” says Jacques. “It’s more social – people taking a walk stop by for a little chat.”

Although the design of the family’s house initially caused a minor uproar in the town because it differed vastly from the area’s more traditional Victorian and Cape Dutch architecture, Jacques says he considers the style fitting for a rural area where steel barns are a common sight. “The other day a child walked by with his mother and referred to the house as ‘a white man’s shack’. I quite like that, considering my inspiration was drawn everywhere from Copenhagen to Khayelitsha.”

Ask him about the potential impact of his project and Jacques grins: “I’m too much of a realist to think it will change anything. The whole concept is much more my own search than an answer, a utopia, or even a prototype. It’s my personal hunt for an alternative.”

Jacques Coetzer jacquescoetzer.co.za
Leán Coetzer leancoetzer.co.za