*This work was developed as part of the Sim Office Studio at UCT’s School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics. It is not intended as a set of solutions. The proposals are speculative: a way of thinking and dreaming alongside the Fisher Child Project and the residents of Fisherman’s Flats in Kalk Bay. They form part of the Fisher People’s Flats Research for 2026.
Students (Make Room):
For Make Room, the question of who builds, owns, and decides was treated as part of the design.
The implementation strategy combines a professionally built frame with infill built by local “bakkie builders” under a single joint-venture contract. This keeps local builders central to the work and supports skills development as the project moves from Phase 1 to Phase 2.
The ownership model proposes a Fisherpeople’s Trust, adapted from community land trusts such as Champlain Housing Trust, Caño Martín Peña in Puerto Rico, and CLT Brussels. Residents would transfer their flats into the trust in exchange for a proportional shareholding. They would keep the right to live in their homes, the flats would be taken off the speculative market, and completed additions would build residents’ equity over time.
Governance would be led by elected residents and a fisher elder, alongside Kalk Bay neighbours, a City representative, and legal and technical advisers. The trust would publish open audits and follow clear rules for transfers and resale. The group proposed funding from public housing grants, a small tourism levy on larger Kalk Bay businesses, and rental income shared among residents.
The proposal ends where the studio began: support, don’t solve. Any intervention must remain in community hands.
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