creating happier homes in a healthier world

Our Services

Citra designs and builds spaces that combine green and sustainable solutions to provide better human habitation and healthier neighborhoods. This involves a whole range of services from the micro to the macro level, but whether we are designing better building techniques or better community initiatives, we take the same pride in our work and seek to make our clients equally proud of their new Citra home.
So whether you need a design and build service for your own, cutting-edge home, or are looking for somebody to develop a larger property into a sustainable eState, Citra is your partner of choice with advanced design tools, experienced professionals and leading quality control at every step of the way.

Design

The Citra architectural practice designs projects exclusively with Citra Building Technology. Among the advantages this offers are high ceilings, world-class thermal insulation with lifelong savings, and unfettered design freedom. “You dream it, we build it,” is our motto.

Our experience covers both luxury and affordable housing categories. We network to world-leading professionals if required, and work with architectural teams in both Switzerland and South Africa.

We make use of best-in-class design tools to achieve the desired result in the most efficient way possible.

We design in 3D with Building Information Modeling (BIM). Then we optimise the design for structural integrity, thermal comfort, natural light, and much more with Finite Element Modeling (FEM). Thirdly, we design for production optimisation with Parametric Design to ensure the lowest possible costs. And finally, our advanced, cloud-based project management tools ensure smooth collaboration with all stakeholders and participants.

Thanks to our design-for-production approach, we achieve budget compliance from the very first sketch. If a client gives us a budget in our first meeting, we design a house that we can build for that budget, with no surprises later in the process.

The average cumulative effect of these methods is a cost saving of up to 20% for comparable design, quality, and benefits!

Building

At Citra, we have the flexibility to act either as the main contractor on a project or as a subcontractor. In either case, we build exclusively with Citra Building Technology – although we can adapt an existing conventional project to take advantage of our proprietary system, creating hybrid solutions.

Our main area of operation is currently in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, but we do take on projects outside this region on special request.

As builders, we have experience in both high-end luxury homes and more affordable mass housing projects. Whichever of these we are building, the integration of our well-crafted design process with our construction methods results in budget and schedule compliance: our projects do not cost more or take longer to execute than planned.

This is also a result of our advanced cloud-based project management tools to ensure smooth collaboration with all participants in the building process, and makes our watertight quality control practices easier to implement.

There are numerous advantages to using Citra Building Technology, which may be summarised as physical advantages, financial advantages and environmental advantages.

Firstly, homes built using Citra Building Technology are stronger and more durable than conventionally built houses. They are also twice as resistant to fire and five times more efficient when it comes to thermal insulation. In addition to which, the far higher strength-to-weight ratio of Citra walls and roofs allow architects to design structures that would not be achievable with conventional building technology.

From the financial perspective, the fact that Citra homes can be built 20% cheaper and twice as fast as conventional homes lowers the cost of acquisition for the owner and makes for a more rewarding buy-to-let investment. And the fact that our structures require far less energy to heat or cool is also a significant cost-saving factor over years of occupation.

Thirdly, from an environmental standpoint., homes built with Citra Building Technology have a carbon footprint that is approximately half that of conventionally built houses, and far lower energy consumption over time because of their superior thermal insulation properties, as mentioned above.

That’s a win-win-win solution of the kind that is urgently required on a massive scale right now to help solve the worldwide housing shortage and reduce the huge effect the construction industry currently has on global warming.

Property Development

As a property developer, Citra essentially has three modes of operation:

  1. We purchase selected properties if they are suitable for the development of an eco-friendly eState and fall within our mandate;
  2. We consult to property owners on how to develop their property into a sustainable eState or Development;
  3. We invest into selected projects and develop together with the current owner.
No matter in which of these modes we operate, however, our philosophy as property developers is to take a holistic approach. A home doesn’t end at your doorstep: urban design, landscaping, and community initiatives to build a secure, healthy neighborhood are equally important.
We are also specially committed to positive social transformation initiatives. These include preferential procurement for local SMEs from often disadvantaged communities, the up-skilling of local SMEs, and assistance in compliance.

Furthermore, we assist local non-profit and community organizations with their infrastructure, for instance, by fixing roofs or donating school books to local schools. In addition, we contribute to food security initiatives near our eStates together with community organizations.

Our aspiration in this area is to meet the goals of the EcoDistrics Protocol which may be summarised as:

  1. Equity – aimed at increasing civic participation, economic opportunity, health, and wellbeing
  2. Resilience – social, economic, and environmental
  3. Climate Protection – reducing energy use, encouraging onsite energy production, and working towards net carbon dioxide emissions.
Download EcoDistricts Protocol v1.3 PDF