APES+ COMMITTEE

Alastair Simpson

Alastair Simpson is a professionally registered Quantity Surveyor with 25 years of experience in a wide range of construction projects in both the Public and Private sectors. Alastair served on and chaired the Western Cape Chapter of the Association of South African Quantity Surveyors (ASAQS), served on the National Board of the ASAQS and been a committee member of the Joint Construction Practice Committee (JPCC).

Alastair is a director at Shevel & Simpson Quantity Surveyors. He is currently serving as the APES+ secretary.

Stephen Townsend

Born Cape Town, 1947; matriculated at Kimberley Boy’s High, 1965; completed a B Arch at University of Cape Town, 1978 (second and third year at Delft Technical University, Netherlands); diploma in conservation studies at the University of Rome, 1985 (equivalent to a masters); PhD at UCT, 2003.

 Worked as an architect in practice in SA and Italy, 1978 – 1985; worked for City of Cape Town, 1985 – 2004 (ten years as head of the then Urban Conservation Unit, nine years as Manager: Land Use Management); in private practice specialising in planning and conservation matters, 2004 – 2006 and 2008 - present; CEO of the provincial heritage resources authority, Heritage Western Cape, 2006-2007; HWC Council member, 2010 – 2013 (chaired its BEL  Comm and IA Comm); currently on panel of MEC’s Appeals Tribunal.

 Regular contributor to professional and legal journals and chapters of books since first publication in 1977.

 Established and ran the M Phil in Conservation of the Built Environment as Adjunct Assoc Prof, 2008-2017. Teaching CPD courses (on heritage and its management) at UCT since 2005.

 Registered as an architect since 1979; on Cape Institute of Architects main committee, 1987 – 2003 (chaired its environment and heritage committees), on its Heritage Committee since 1988. Founding member, Association of Professional Heritage Practitioners, 2003 (occasional member of its main and other committees). Corporate member since 2000, South African Planning Institute. Member since 1995, International Council on Monuments and Sites SA (occasional member of its main committee).

Special fields of interest: the legal and administrative system regulating development; the making and enriching of settlements; professionalization of heritage practice; road running since 1977 (approximately 60 marathons; 24 Two Oceans including two silver medals).

Ron Haiden

Ronald (Ron) Mathieson Haiden was born on 12 May 1951 in Bloemfontein and matriculated from Selborne College, East London, in 1968. He earned a BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Cape Town in 1973, followed by an MPhil in Urban Design & Regional Planning from the University of Edinburgh in 1980, and a Graduate Diploma in Transport Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1991. He registered as a Professional Engineer in 1976 and has been a member of SAICE since 1977. A member of the Royal Town Planning Institute from 1992 to 2008, he has presented at numerous conferences and given lectures in transport engineering. In 2012, he received the SAICE Chairman’s Award for outstanding service to the profession and was elected a Fellow in 2014.

Ron began his career in 1973 working in the harbours of Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, including 18 months of National Service in the Navy. From 1980 to 1983, he worked as a Planning and District Engineer for SA Transport Services in Johannesburg before joining the City of Cape Town and the CMC in July 1983, where he served until his retirement in May 2016. His 33-year municipal career focused on metropolitan-scale transport project planning, evaluation, and design.

He was a key figure in numerous landmark projects, including the Highway Capacity Study, Road Access Management Guidelines, Road Toll Policy, Hospital Bend and Koeberg Interchange upgrades, Green Point Circle, Granger Bay Boulevard, and over 50 Public Transport Interchanges. His work consistently reflected his belief in interdisciplinary collaboration to improve the sustainability and quality of urban life.

Ron played a leading role in the MyCiTi Bus Rapid Transit project from 2007 to 2016, working alongside international consultant Dr Lloyd Wright. This ambitious project aimed to deliver a universally accessible, car-competitive, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable transport system. Phase 1A and the N2 Express services were designed with walkable access, bicycle and pram-friendly infrastructure, and world-class reliability and safety, contributing significantly to improved urban design quality and increased confidence among developers and residents.

Since retiring from the City, Ron joined the multidisciplinary team led by MDA to redevelop the Cape Town Foreshore, integrating housing and transport solutions without public funding—a project regrettably cancelled for the time being.

Ron became a member of APES on 13 November 2001 after attending a presentation on Sir Norman Foster. He served on the Committee in 2017/18 and was elected Chairperson in 2018 and again in 2019. Under his leadership, APES+ sought to reinvigorate its role as an inclusive platform for creative dialogue across all built environment professions, committed to enhancing the quality of life in Cape Town and its surroundings.

Margot van Heerden

Margot has been a member of APES Society for over 10 years and has served on the committee once before. A registered architect working primarily on heritage projects in Environmental Management at the City of Cape Town. She is also a member of SACAP and APHP.

After graduating from UCT in 1995, she started her career in Windhoek, Namibia with Kerry McNamara Architects, then WATG in London for 4 years, then back to Cape Town, at DHK, and Louis Karol Architects, until joining the City of Cape Town in 2005 as a planner. A year with the Matrix cc in Port Elizabeth peeked her interest in heritage and the built environment, which then led her to UCT to complete the MPhil in Conservation of the Built Environment.

Currently serving on the APES+ committee, she is enthusiastic about networking and learning from other disciplines as well as all things architectural.

Ryan von Ruben

I am a Cape Town-based architect and mediator with nearly 30 years of experience working across South Africa, the UK, France, and the USA.

After finishing school in the Eastern Cape, I studied at the Architectural Association in London and went on to work for John McAslan and Norman Foster before establishing my own practice in London in 2005.

Following my marriage to a French novelist, I moved to France and lived in Paris, Lille, and a small village on the Atlantic coast before relocating to Cape Town in 2017.

My architectural work focuses on adaptive reuse and the design of contemporary additions to historic buildings. As a mediator, I run the CIfA Mediation Clinic, which advocates for the wider adoption of facilitative mediation within the construction industry.

This is my first term on the APES+ committee, and I look forward to fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and engaging with the rich and diverse mix of professions that make up the APES+ community.

Fun facts: I am fluent in French and have co-authored a published novel based on the true story of the discovery of the strelitzia, which has been translated into German and Russian.

David Gibbs

David Gibbs is a registered professional landscape architect, environmental planner, and heritage practitioner with 25 years’ experience in the built environment. His work integrates sustainability, resilience, and transformation, with a strong focus on cultural landscapes and the stewardship of public spaces.

David has held leadership roles in professional bodies such as ILASA, IFLA, and SACLAP, and currently chairs the Impact Assessment Committee of Heritage Western Cape.

As UCT’s Landscape Architect and Heritage Practitioner, he oversees campus landscape systems and heritage frameworks, while contributing actively to teaching, governance, and transformation initiatives.

Patty Price

Patty is a Cape Town based architect. She is particularly interested in fostering inter-disciplinary interaction with a view to finding creative solutions to problems such as rapid urbanization and population growth, spatial justice, poverty, climate change resilience and protection of the natural environment.

 SACAP registered Pr.Arch

Practiced in London, Leicester, rural areas of KZN, in Cape Town since 1993, own practice since 1998

University:         UCT BAS 1985, UCT Barch 1989

School:              Linpark High, Pietermaritzburg