Elza Smit, of the Forum was kind enough to answer some questions about 2 of their venues, namely The Forum and Turbine Hall. Both of these venues are truly stunning and are making some major headway in going green. The joy of using venues like these is that they have done most of the hard work for you. This leaves space to be as creative as possible, safe in the knowledge that the environment is being taken care of. A few blogs ago, I gave you a list of questions to ask your potential venue and I gave the same list of questions to Elza. All her answers are below. The Forum does not only do wedding functions, but also corporate events. Please find their contact details above each venue.
The Campus and Turbine Hall gets 4 eco wedding hearts.
THE FORUM / THE CAMPUS
The forum | the campus is in the campus office park, 57 Sloane ave, Bryanston.
tel : 011-575-4208
fax: 011-576-4208
- Do you use eco friendly lighting?
- We use motion sensor lights inside the building and inside our basement parking area. The lights are controlled by movement sensors which switch off when there has been no movement, leaving only a few lights operational in case of an emergency.
- At night, the lights are switched off, with only pole lighting switched on in the garden – for security purposes.
- Lights –All globes were changed from 80watt to 26 watt compact fluorescent lamps.
- How much power do you use for a single wedding?
· At the campus every effort is being made to conserve energy. Lights are switched off when there is no need, we don’t let chiller plants run unnecessarily and we do not allow heaters to come on unnecessarily. The kitchens are powered by gas, and the power usage is dependent on the amount of extra lighting required
- When you use candles, do you use soy candles?
- These aspects are organised by the relevant wedding coordinator, not the venue
- Can you arrange an outdoor wedding?
· Yes, the forum | the campus has a lovely courtyard suitable for outdoor weddings.
· There is also a grass oval available, where weddings can take place in the centre of the campus office park.
· Bedouin tents are used especially for outdoor functions such as weddings – and also in the case of rain on your wedding day.
- Do you use a low irrigation system?
- Yes – the sprinkler system is run automatically.
- When and if it rains we switch the sprinkler system off.
- Do you use organic and local produce?
- We have our own farm and all the fruit and veg that we use comes from the farm and is organic.
- If we need to source other products we always use local farmers.
- We get our fish from farmers close by i.e. the trout is sourced from Magaliesburg.
- All our chicken comes from a farmer in the JHB region
- Only when there is a strange request for a product that is not seasonal or within the SA region will we import a product.
- Do you provide transport for large numbers to attend?
- These aspects are organised by the relevant wedding coordinator, not the venue
- Do you use recycled paper for invitations, place cards, menus, seating arrangements etc?
- These aspects are organised by the relevant wedding coordinator, not the venue
- Do you offer eco friendly gift solutions to your wedding couples?
- These aspects are organised by the relevant wedding coordinator, not the venue
- Do you recycle decorations?
- These aspects are organised by the relevant wedding coordinator, not the venue
- Do you use local florists and in season flowers. Also do you attempt to minimise on cut flowers and do you donate the flowers to any hospitals or old age homes after the wedding
· We have our own in house florist and we use seasonal flowers. We minimize on cut flowers and re-use flowers around the venues
- What kind of waste management do you have?
· All our waste is separated into Glass/Paper/Plastic categories and is collected by a waste recycling company called Wet Waste.
- Do you recycle at the bar and use local beers and organic wines?
- We recycle at the bar as previously mentioned, but stock a wide range of drinks, including imported liquor. If however a bride requests only local and organic drinks, we can easily accommodate the request
- Do you decant from tins and bottles?
- Yes we separate glass and metal and recycle accordingly
THE FORUM / TURBINE HALL
tel : 011-575-4208
fax: 011-576-4208
- Do you use eco friendly lighting?
- Turbine hall consists of 3 levels, the top level houses the glasshouse, where 3 of the 4 walls are made out of glass, thus providing maximum natural light into the building. There are also circular skylights in the building, serving the same purpose.
- From the outside of the building, the low density [large volume of windows in front of the building] of the development allows the sun into the green urban space.
- Light sensitive lights are used for lights situated near windows. -
- How much power do you use for a single wedding?
· The kitchens are powered by gas, and the power usage is dependent on extra lighting being required
- When you use candles, do you use soy candles?
- These aspects are organised by the relevant wedding coordinator, not the venue
- Can you arrange an outdoor wedding?
- There is a courtyard available in front of turbine hall that could accommodate a small wedding “in the city”. The courtyard consists of a mounded garden, a surprising green space or “soft” interior within the city. “The garden acts as a social and geometric focus for the complex and counterpoints the tough industrial environment of the interior”
taken from: turbine square – a heritage of power, 2008 AngloGold Ashanti/Tiber group
- Do you use a low irrigation system?
- 50% of the landscape is designed to thrive on little water
- Irrigation system sub-surface micro-drip to avoid water loss through evaporation
- 60% of the soft landscape does not require mechanical equipment [e.g. lawn cutting] and/or artificial inputs such as weed killers and pesticides
- taken from: turbine square – a heritage of power, 2008 AngloGold Ashanti/Tiber group
- Do you use organic and local produce?
- We have our own farm and all the fruit and vegetables that we use is organic.
- For product not sourced from our farm we use local farmers
- We get our fish from farmers close by i.e. the trout will be sourced from Magaliesburg
- All our chicken comes from a farmer in the JHB region
- Only when there is a strange request for a product that is not seasonal or within the SA region will we import a product.
- Do you provide transport for large numbers to attend?
- These aspects are organised by the relevant wedding coordinator, not the venue
- Do you use recycled paper for invitations, place cards, menus, seating arrangements etc?
- These aspects are organised by the relevant wedding coordinator, not the venue
- Do you offer eco friendly gift solutions to your wedding couples?
- These aspects are organised by the relevant wedding coordinator, not the venue
- Do you recycle decorations?
- These aspects are organised by the relevant wedding coordinator, not the venue
- Do you use local florists and in season flowers. Also do you attempt to minimise on cut flowers and do you donate the flowers to any hospitals or old age homes after the wedding?
· We have our own in house florist and we use seasonal flowers. We minimize on cut flowers and re-use flowers around the venues
- What kind of waste management do you have?
· All our waste are separated into Glass/Paper/Plastic categories and collected by a company called wet waste who recycles all the waste
- Do you recycle at the bar and use local beers and organic wines?
- We recycle at the bar as previously mentioned, but stock a wide range of drinks, including imported liquor. If however a bride requests only local and organic drinks, we can easily accommodate the request
- Do you decant from tins and bottles?
- Yes we separate glass and metal and recycle accordingly.
Not only has The Forum thought about providing 2 very beautiful venues, but they have also taken into account the impact that an event, be it a wedding or a function, can have on the environment. The venues offer an indoor wedding venue and an outdoor wedding venue, providing tents and beautiful courtyards.
nice post!
ReplyDeleteCascade Country Manor can seat up to 100 people, but for Weddings of more than 80 guests the event has to be arranged by a professional Wedding Coordinator. Wedding inquiries via e-mail or fax are handled once a week on Wednesdays.
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