COOL CAMPUS

Sol Plaatje University Auditorium Building

Location: Kimberley

Cool and eye-catchingly clever, the auditorium building on Sol Plaatje University’s campus is an imaginative addition to the hot and dry Northern Cape university. Ludwig Hansen Architects and Urban Designers was tasked with the development of a comprehensive Urban Design and Development Framework and Implementation Strategy Plan, which required the coordination of both architects and bulk infrastructure consultants. As the first new institution of higher learning since 1994, the university symbolises democracy, inclusivity, growth, and opportunity.

On an urban scale, the aim was to change the exiting city of Kimberley from a mining hub into a university town. This was achieved by introducing a variety of uses and functions in close proximity to each other to create a truly integrated and mixed townscape. The new university was to accommodate not only academic facilities, but also a mixture of residences, retail amenities, recreation spaces, and exhibition venues.

URBA Architects and Urban Designers won the auditorium building commission through an open design competition that called for culturally and environmentally appropriate responses within a tightly controlled framework. The triangular, external envelope of the building is derived from a rigorous urban design framework that facilitates cohesion and supports people-oriented placemaking.

The resourceful, solid, and abstract design of the building mirrors the domestic vernacular of the region, where even the smallest solid structures, typically made of stacked stone, shield users from the harsh climate by providing cool interiors. The building is a metaphoric ‘cool cave’ that allows students to continue with the important task of learning despite extreme climatic conditions outside.

Meet The Team

Client: Sol Plaatje University

Architect: URBA Architects and Urban Designers, Henri Comrie, Amálie Comrie, Etienne Britz

Design development: Henri Comrie, Amálie Comrie, Burgert van der Walt, Etienne Britz

Urban designer: Ludwig Hansen Architects and Urban Designers

Main contractor: Qualicon Construction

Project manager: AECOM

Structural, electrical, civil, and fire engineer: Aurecon

Quantity surveyor: LimCo QS, Arbitration & Project Management

Photographer: Paris Brummer www.urba.co.za

External openings of varying sizes are carved into the solid brick envelope to invite optimal natural light into the building and to guide the movement of students into it. On its southern façade, the bold treatment of the sheer, vertical brick plane acts as a headboard that holds the shortest end of an intimate, shaded court while also casting much-needed shade over it. The other buildings that frame the court present a more permeable interface within a balanced, total space.

The hollowing out of the minimalist brick mass within the total envelope provided opportunities for the plastic articulation of space and for the controlled use of natural light. The three-dimensional sculpting of the interior provides a variety of pause and breakaway spaces located at different, yet visually connected levels. While the crust of the building is made of flush-jointed clay brick, the interior is made of rendered white walls and off-shutter concrete to allow for the infusion of spaces with natural light that migrates through them, creating moods linked to seasons and the time of day. The fine-grained, 20 mm-thick, black Indian limestone on the floor flows into the curves and can be cut along the perimeter to fit the shape like a carpet, without any skirtings.

The external minimalist planes of solid brick and internal white or béton-brut act as backdrops or frames for the installation, where more finely crafted, colourful elements are contrasted against or set into them. This brings a playful quality to the building in an environment that already blossoms with youthful optimism and the joys of student life, successfully cementing itself as the winner in the category of Completed Buildings for Higher Education and Research at the World Architecture Festival 2022.

Suppliers

Brick

Corobrik 011 871 8600

Ironmongery

Ironmongery Warehouse 011 444 8672 dormakaba South Africa 021 812 3500

Steel

Central Industries 082 805 2389

Aluminium and glazing

Glasfit 0860 123 423

Joinery and partitions

Craucor Joinery 084 878 2242

Lifts

KONE Elevators 051 444 2413

Lighting Regent Lighting 011 474 0171

Signage

Identisea 083 469 4492

Paint

Paintsmiths 051 444 5777

Flooring

Mazista 011 998 2600

Tiling Union Tiles 051 421 1285

Off-shutter concrete

Lafarge South Africa 011 657 0000

Fixed static seating

Rodlin Design 011 444 2061 www.rodlindesign.co.za

Student environments should be conducive to open collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking. Comfort and ergonomics are key in student motivation and higher engagement. Which is why it is important to offer comfortable functional seating that creates a unique learning environment.

Extremely versatile, functional two and three seat seating systems with writing boards. An elegant solution for modern lecture and multi-media facilities, conference halls and auditoriums. The cleancut look is designed to meet requirements for rationality and comfort.

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• Telephone: +27 (0) 11 444 2061

• Fax: + 27 (0) 444 8416

• Email: info@rodlindesign.co.za

• Cape Town: 11 Bremen Close, Airport Industria, Matroosfontein. 7490.

• Telephone: +27 (0) 21 534 9873

• Cell: + 27 (0) 83 797 1666

• Email: info@rodlindesign.co.za

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Trees available

100lt/ following