We make homes and urban spaces off-grid, sustainable & resilient by creating edible & ecological landscapes, harvesting & reusing water, using eco-building materials & methods, building natural pools, and using off-grid technology.
We offer all these solutions independently but primarily, we integrate all of these solutions together, using what is called whole systems design. Whole systems design is a multi-disciplinary approach that integrates agriculture, ecology, architecture, and construction. This approach and its’ outcomes are scalable from residential properties and suburbs right through to farmlands.
We create adaptive, resilient, and secure spaces in a world facing peak oil, climate instability, and ever-deepening social and economic uncertainty.
Leaf & Stone was founded by Andrew Jamieson in 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. My journey started with the conversion of our own home (The Nook) into an eco-home in 2016. Back then, and even still, there was no one who could really advise on the many aspects that were involved in making a home off-grid, sustainable & resilient. So I began the journey of doing it myself.
In 2016, I studied permaculture design in South Africa. This offered me a radically new way of thinking about the design of not only my home but human settlements, ecosystems, and all systems. Using this design framework I took our home partly off-grid providing water, food, and waste solutions as well as doing an eco renovation on the 35-year-old timber home.
Cape Town was in the grip of a water shortage crisis at the time and people started to realize the benefit of not only harvesting and recycling water but in many other ways, a home can become more resilient and sustainable. As a result our home soon started to garner interest and I started getting inquiries to install food forests, rain-water harvesting systems, greywater wetlands, and build natural pools. Leaf & Stone was created as a service to bring these sustainable services to people in South Africa with the main focus being on whole systems design. We place a huge emphasis on the design process as a service where we view the home/school/office as a system and consider all elements together to maximize resilience, efficiency, and resources.
We offer a full turnkey whole systems design service for off-grid conversions & urban permaculture implementations from smallholdings, commercial property to urban homes. We are fully involved in all aspects of the profession including cost control and management, project management, and liaising with consultants and contractors.
Often sustainable solutions are seen in isolation; as bolt-on options. Whether it be a rain-water harvesting system, solar PV, or a food garden, clients often ask for the solutions in isolation without necessarily considering the whole system, as it were.
In whole systems design we integrate ecology, landscaping, organic gardening, architecture and agro-forestry in creating a rich and sustainable way of living. We use appropriate technology giving high yields for low energy inputs and achieving a resource of great diversity and stability. The design principles are equally applicable to both urban and rural dwellers.
If someone is asking for a water harvesting solution, we like to consider what their ultimate vision for their home/lifestyle might be. Usually, there is a desire to live more sustainably and to be more self-resilient in the face of climate change & water shortages. With this in mind, If we are truly to create a home that is sustainable & resilient, we need to emulate eco-systems and understand that everything is related. So in whole systems design, we look at the entire property and design the entire system holistically.
This means that we make detailed observations. We consider everything from:
Sun, wind, contours, loud neighbours, soil type, traffic noise, drainage, biodiversity (yes, even in an urban garden), microclimates, groundwater, history, air movement, water flows, existing animal paths, stormwater run-off, fire corridors, etc.
We collect all this data and map it out, which not only allows us to make sure we are making mutually beneficial relationships but also allows us to see potential opportunities we may not have seen previously and avoid critical and costly mistakes.
Permaculture is often misunderstood as simply a means to grow vegetables organically. It indeed has roots in agriculture but it is far more than that. Permaculture is a design science that can be applied to all human settlements. Whether this is an urban home or a farm the, fundamental principles are the same. We look to patterns and resilient features found in natural eco-systems as inspiration for how we design systems, whether they be systems for growing food or systems for humans to live in or even communities and organisations.
permaculture (pûrˈmə-kŭlˌchər) (n.): Permaculture principles focus on thoughtful designs for small-scale intensive systems which are labor efficient and which use biological resources instead of fossil fuels. Designs stress ecological connections and closed energy and material loops. The core of permaculture is design and the working relationships and connections between all things.
– Bill Mollison
In Permaculture, there are three core ethics – care for the earth, care for the people and reinvest the surplus. It is these fundamental tenants that underpin everything we do.
How can we design systems that mutually beneficial for both humans and whatever ecosystem they find themselves in?
For instance. In nature, we observe that nothing is wasted. Can we design homes that use greywater to grow food and sewerage and organic waste to make cooking gas and fertilizer?
Can we view the home as a resource generator rather than a resource demand centre? Whether the resource be water, energy or food?
Permaculture was started by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978. The term permaculture initially referred to “permanent agriculture”, later it was extended to “permanent culture”, as it became clear that humans (culture) were indeed critical to (and part of) any truly sustainable system.
Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply. This is the first principle, because without a healthy earth, humans cannot flourish.
Provision for people to access those resources necessary for their existence
By governing our own needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles.[19] This includes returning waste back into the system to recycle into usefulness.[20] The third ethic is referred to as Fair Share, which reflects that each of us should take no more than what we need before we reinvest the surplus.
As articulated by David Holmgren in his Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability:
By taking time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.
By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need.
Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.
We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.
Make the best use of nature’s abundance to reduce our consumptive behavior and dependence on non-renewable resources.
By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.
By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.
By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.
Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.
Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.
The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.
We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.
Step by step on how our whole systems design process works
January, 2025
Tuesday
August 26,2019
Awesome Job!
We have received your appointment and will send you a confirmation to your provided email upon approval.
Your request has been submitted successfully.
Own or work here?