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Eendracht School
Tshwane (Pretoria), Gauteng
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| PRETORIA'S NEW “EENDRACHTSKOOL” Problems in planning a new school on a difficult site. The new Eendracht School, Pretoria, which has been carried out for the Transvaal Provincial Administration by Mr. V. S. Rees~Poole, is probably one of the more interesting of recent school buildings in Pretoria. It replaces the old school, which was built towards the end of the last century. This old building had become so inadequate for modern requirements and had fallen into such a deplorable state of disrepair, that the only solution to the problem was to rebuild. The recreation ground available on the original site was inadequate for the new and larger building. To overcome this defect, the site was extended by acquiring properties to the west and north. Unfortunately, the property on the south boundary could not be acquired, so that, although the site had been increased to about three times its original area, it still presented some unusual planning problems, which were not simplified by having to retain the existing building until the new one was completed. The new school accommodates 450 pupils, and twelve classrooms and a laboratory were required. Furthermore, it was to be a Domestic Science and a Manual Training Centre; these requirements, together with the necessary staff-rooms, store-rooms, cloak-room and lavatory accommodation, and the assembly hall, complete the scheme. The problem would not have been simple, even with a straightforward site of an equal area, but with the difficulties already described the solution presented overcomes all the disadvantages and provides the necessary accommodation in a most convenient and interesting form. The ground and first floor provide the necessary number of class-rooms. The principal's office, staffrooms and cloak-rooms, with lavatory accommodation and store-rooms, are situated in the centre, between the two class-room blocks. The staff and parents' entrance leads into a lobby off which these rooms open. Boys and girls have separate entrances at different parts of the building; the stairs are next to the entrances, with cloak and lavatory accommodation. Cloak-room and lavatory accommodation is provided on both the ground and first floors. The assembly hall is situated at the west end of the building, and occupies what otherwise would have been a very awkward portion of the site. It has an entrance directly from the street, opening from a porch into a closed loggia which runs the entire length of the hall and links up to the corridor of the class-room block. The hall contains a cinema projection room and a spacious stage. On the second floor the Manual Training Centre, the laboratory and the Domestic Science Centre have been placed. The boys' entrance and stair gives access to the Manual Training Centre, and the girls' to the Domestic Science portion of the second floor. The laboratory is situated between these two departments. The staff-rooms and all the class-rooms have a northern aspect, with a closed and well-lighted corridor on the south. The second-floor rooms occupy the whole breadth of the building; and the Domestic Science room opens out on to a large terrace on the east. The assembly hall runs from north to south, with a row of windows on the east and west; thus it is provided with a pleasant amount of morning light. The building is a concrete-framed structure with brick panel in-filling. Owing to its extreme length, the frame has been divided into three separate portions, with expansion joints. It is centrally heated by a boiler in the basement at the back of the assembly hall. All soil, waste and rainwater pipes are concealed in ducts or pipe areas. Externally, the building is faced up to ground-floor window-sill level with dark red bricks; above this plinth plaster is used, limewashed a pleasant buff colour. The window-frames are painted white; and the entrance doors are of teak in white-painted frames. Internally, the dadoes are painted a light colour, and the walls and ceilings are colour-washed, and each class-room has its own particular colour scheme. Generally, the floors are covered with brown battleship lino. Large built-in cupboards are provided in the principal's and staff-rooms. A recess at the back of each class-room is fitted with low built-in cupboards.,/p> Work on the lay-out of the grounds will be undertaken in the near future, and the two foundation stones from the old buildings will be placed in the garden to form part of a " commemoration monument." (PWSA May 1939 Vol II No 7:20-1). (SAB Jan 1937:47; PWSA May 1939:20-1). All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon. References:
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