Brand new Louwville High School receives architectural award

Statement by Donald Grant, Minister of Transport and Public Works

The brand new, R50 million Louwville High School project has been recognized for its excellence in design by receiving the Cape Institute for Architecture (CIfA) award for architecture. This awards celebrates the project architect’s (2-AD Space Architects Inc.) ability to deliver an architectural solution that was context specific while still being of a high standard.

The Cape Institute for Architecture (CIfA) in describing the project said, “In the Louwville High School the architects accomplish a balance between these polarities with great aplomb. The quadrangle courtyards not only create well-proportioned spaces for the periodic disgorging of students and staff, they also offer contact with soft landscape elements, integrated into the architecture by way of well-scaled green courts and planters which become play seats during breaks and finely tuned walkways that are both compliant and comforting. The apex roof form with a gentle arc at the peak, repetitively references the roof pitches of local rural farmhouse vernacular, with a user-friendly series of thresholds between entry and exit that over time will enhance the memory of going to school for a learner. It deftly avoids the danger of being imposing and unfamiliar to its context and becomes a confident, gentle and modest enabler for learning.”

Construction of the school started in January 2015, following a need for a permanent brick and mortar structure to replace the temporary classrooms that the learners had been using. The project saw 38 new classrooms built to accommodate the 1380 learners of the school. The project also included the construction of:

• Multi-purpose classrooms
• Science labs
• A multi-media centre
• A school hall and administration block

The project also saw the allocation of R5.1 million to targeted contractor businesses, R2.5 million to targeted suppliers and manufacturers, and an additional R3.7 million spent on local labour during the period of construction.

Today, I am honoured to be visiting this award-winning school that is a sign of where context specific school infrastructure construction is moving in the future. Our department is committed to being at the forefront of this evolution, and delivering school infrastructure that creates an environment which enables learning.