Long-term Sustainability - Campus Improvement Projects

THE LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY OF A MODERN UNIVERSITY requires that it constantly revisits its offerings and challenges to ensure that it can meet present and future demands.

At UWC, this means continually optimising existing infrastructure while taking opportunities to develop new vibrant spaces to enrich our students’ experience and contribute to academic excellence.

After initiating a new phase of expansion of our healthcare facilities with the development of the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences building in the Bellville CBD which houses the Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Natural Medicine departments, the university implemented several renewal projects at the main campus as well as key projects that expand our footprint across metropolitan Cape Town.

Unibell Student Housing Project

Unibell is a 2 720-bed student housing project in Belhar, adjoining the main Bellville campus. The property features communal cooking, dining and study areas; its own gym and laundry, landscaped gardens, and secure, access-controlled grounds and parking. Care has been taken to ensure access to facilities by differently-abled students. The project was completed at a cost of R670 million and was officially opened on 24 April 2023 by Dr Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education.

New Education Precinct

UWC’s Faculty of Education produces many of the teachers working in the basic education sector in schools and early learning centres in South Africa. Following the consolidation of several departments of the Faculty of Natural Sciences in a new purpose built building, the university seized the opportunity to consolidate its education facilities and resources in one precinct on the main campus. The South Campus Education Precinct was completed in 2023. It will accommodate the projected growth of the Faculty and encourages academic excellence by providing students with authentic learning spaces for practical vocational training and teaching programmes. The complex project involved the refurbishment of the old Chemistry and Computational Sciences buildings and adding a new three-storey building, a courtyard linking the three existing buildings and two classrooms for general use. The project was accomplished at a cost of R268 million.

Greatmore Street

Work on the Greatmore Street Project is nearing completion. This exciting arts education initiative in Woodstock is sited at a decommissioned school near the former District Six area of Cape Town that was obliterated during apartheid. The project will create a physical and cultural connection between UWC and the city by housing the UWC Centre for Humanities Research (CHR), a much-admired flagship initiative that brings together scholars and students from South African universities, public institutions, and national and international research bodies, in initiatives and collaborations that respond to the demands of building the post-apartheid South Africa.

The project will accommodate CHR programmes like artists-in residence studios, a Laboratory of Kinetic Objects and Puppetry Arts (LOKOPA), a gallery, seminar rooms and workspaces to accommodate visitors from international partner institutions. The final project cost at completion is projected at R85 million.

Uwc Sports Precinct

UWC has a long history of initiating sports development in the communities of Cape Town and is deeply invested in providing its students with co-curricular experiences as competitors and administrators, and even academic offerings in physical education and sports science. Our engagement with provincial sports bodies, administrators and local community organisations inspired us to not only serve the university and its sports codes. As a locus of development in sports science and training, we must provide our athletes and the surrounding communities with a highstandard sports precinct that will enable them to reach their full potential. Resurfacing and upgrading the old UWC athletics tartan track to ensure compliance with national and global standards was crucial to achieving this objective. The new track that was installed achieved a Class 2, Construction Category 5 facility classification by World Athletics. The grass infield of the track was also reconstructed to ensure that it would accommodate not only athletics field events but Varsity rugby and soccer matches as well. The estimated final project cost is R20 million.

Repurposing Of Existing Building Stock

The old CHS building was refurbished to accommodate the Centre for Student Support Services. Following the concept of Universal Design, the project improved the functionality of the area to facilitate interactions between the operational staff and differently-abled student clients. The project was completed at a final cost of approximately R10 million.

The UWC Senate building is also being refurbished, to allow centralised storage of all UWC (DRAMS and CHR) and Robben Island Museum archives, records and artefacts, for preservation, academic research and public exhibitions.

Student Commuter Shelter

An amenity was installed in 2021 for students in the Residences precinct to safely access commuter transport. This project included appropriate security technology, a new vehicular access route, a parking area for shuttles, a public plaza and a sheltered waiting area for students using the shuttles.

Innovation Hub

Scheduled for completion by December 2023, this R80 million project involves the conversion of an existing two-storey building in Voortrekker Road, Bellville, into a three-story technology and innovation hub. The ground floor digital equipment showroom will showcase the latest Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) technologies. A software development studio will house students developing AR/VR software and programmes. The hub will provide corporate clients, school learners and university students with exposure to and training in digital technologies.