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University of South Africa Phase 2
Parow, Western Cape
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Click to view map Coordinates: | Award for Excellence citation Beyond the world-famous horizon line of Table Mountain and beyond the equally familiar horizon line of the Hottentots Holland mountain range is a context that hardly ever receives a positive mention in the press, let alone the architectural press. This sandy and windswept wasteland is euphemistically known as the Cape Flats. Parow, where the Phase 2 University of South Africa (UNISA) building is situated, is on the northern border of these sandy flats where the topography starts to rise towards the Tygerberg Hills. This context, a world away from the desirable and rather glamorous parts of the City of Cape Town, is mostly the domain of the poor working classes and where industrial production occurs. Climatically and topographically, it is a difficult and demanding context for any architect to work with. In a building mass where there is no height to produce the relief of the view towards a distant horizon, the architect is restricted to an internalised world. This is, fortunately, not a problem in the hands of a gifted and careful architect. This project gives proof that Michelle Sandilands is precisely such an architect. The typological form that is most obvious and logical to use in these kinds of contexts would be the perimeter block, and climatically it makes sense to enable the circulation of air and light by means of the section. In a somewhat altered form, this is what the architects have done. The non-place qualities of the broader macro context extend unaltered to the immediate context of the building. The site is situated in a mixed-use area between the major arterial route of Voortrekker Road and the railway line from Cape Town to Bellville and beyond. The bulk of the building is sandwiched between the existing UNISA facilities and the railway line, rendering the site reasonably accessible to the students of this distance-learning university. The architects were requested to provide accommodation for student registration, examination venues, teaching venues and administrative offices. This is not a 'normal' residential university, where the social aspects are so fundamentally important to the educational experience. Thus, it was seen to be crucial that such spaces should be created in order for a semblance of this socialisation process to occur. The university authorities also decided that this campus should be a showcase for sustainable building practice. In principle, the newly created social space for the students became the most important space in the building. The remainder of the building mass was used to form this high-volume and light-filled space. The main student entry to the building is focused on this space and all circulation logically originates and ends here. Encircling and defining it, is the double-storey classroom and examination hall accommodation. The section is ingeniously used to create a series of ventilation and light scoops to the teaching venues. This long teaching block is right up against the railway line to the south. The south facade is completely transparent, boldly creating a visual interaction between the learning activity and the intermittent passing trains with its daily community of commuters. The double-glazing facade reduces the possible noise interference from the trains, while also reducing energy consumption. The Fibonacci number system has been used to design the subdivisions and opening sections of this window wall. The light and ventilation towers ensure reflected daylight into these spaces, while also creating through ventilation via electronic sensors when any of the windows are opened. Also, on the south side, is a series of water tanks storing the harvested rainwater that is used in the ablution facilities. In this bleak and difficult environment, the architects have created a lyrical and inspiring place of learning by means of tectonics, detailing, materiality, mathematically inspired geometry and the near musical play that light and shadow creates through the sunscreens. Sandblasted paving bricks have been used for the walls throughout, and this brings an aged solidity to the building. In the metal detailing, the inherent qualities of the chosen sections have been used to great poetic effect. In the open courtyard, an inspiring mosaic mural has been created by local artists. In the adjacent enclosed central courtyard, nature has been introduced in the form of trees growing in normal soil via openings in the floor. Overall, the building is solid and detailed for low maintenance without being cold and inhuman. Every decision made by the architects speaks of a deep concern for the upliftment of the human condition and the judicious use of the earth's resources. The architects' careful consideration of every design decision in this building has created for every user a sense of comfort and delight. In many ways, the building also displays a sense of the textural to create a memorable place, as well as some abstract qualities to signify that the building houses a place of knowledge exchange and generation. (Paul Kotze - 2014) Books and articles that reference University of South Africa Phase 2
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