139 CHAPTER 7 CASE STUDIES
MACRO CONTEXT BACKGROUND – DURBAN
The city of Durban or eThekweni is the third largest city in the country of South Africa and it is the busiest port city in the country (Fig 7.1). Durban is also a major tourist destination, famous for its long stretch of golden beaches and warm weather all year round. The city dates from 1824 when twenty – five men arrived from the Cape Colony and established a settlement on the northern shore of the Bay of Natal. During 1835, it was then decided to
build a capital town and they named it d‟Urban after the governor of the Cape Colony, Sir Benjamin d‟Urban (Smith, 1992). The historical legacy of the Apartheid era was a major influence on the planning of South African cities and this resulted in them having a low – density sprawl pattern. South African cities such as Durban can be described as being fragmented where development occurs in pockets bounded by freeways and open spaces.
Sprawling cities generate an enormous amount of movement and Durban is dominated by its
Figure 7.1: An aerial view of the city of Durban and the major suburbs (www.googleearth.com, altered by author).
140 transportation systems. Many housing areas are away from the city centre and these constitute poor living environments, also becoming quite inconvenient to the poorer people who do not have cars. The ways in which these housing areas have been fragmented from the city centre has led to the people living in them receiving poor service and little access to adequate medical and educational services (Smith, 1992). Many of the children in the disadvantaged areas do not in some case have access to education at all and have to travel extreme distance to get to their schools. There are also high levels of crime within the city centre and the suburbs due to the high rate of unemployment. The main transportation system within the city is the road network, through the use of cars, buses and taxis with the rail system being secondary transport (Smith, 1992). Considering this in mind, the following case studies which have been chosen are all located within Durban and they illustrate various architectural design principles which are important to understand when designing for disabled children.
141 AN ANALYSIS OF THE SEVEN FOUNTAINS SCHOOL IN TERMS OF SENSORY AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL DESIGN
Introduction
The Seven Fountains Primary School was designed by East Coast Architects, who practise in Durban. It is a community school which involved a great amount of community empowerment. It has become a renowned building in South Africa as it was built partly by an organisation that is run by American talk show host; Oprah Winfrey (Oprah‟s Angel Network). The design of this school won the architects the following awards: the KZNIA Award for Architecture (2009) and the SAIA Award for Excellence (2010) (www.eastcoastarchitects.co.za). The school was not designed specifically for the disabled but does include aspects of accessibility.
Justification of the Case Study
There are various reasons that this case study has been chosen. Firstly, and most importantly, it is one of the very few schools in South Africa where the design approach included creating a building as a pedagogic tool for children and the local people, by employing sensory and passive principles into the design of the building. Secondly, community empowerment, use of local crafts and materials and the incorporation of sustainability implies a critical regionalist approach. Lastly, the site and context formed an integral part of the design process, hence the aspect of genius loci. All of the above mentioned factors are theories which were examined in the literature review and for that reason; the Seven Fountains School is an interesting case study. Analysing these aspects in built form will help to understand their pros and cons, further strengthening the main argument and providing a solid foundation to bridge the gap between theory and practise.
Location
The school is located in a township called Shayamoya which borders a little town called Kokstad, situated in the Sisonke district, KwaZulu Natal. This picturesque little town is built on the outskirts of the infamous Drakensberg Mountains. It can be described as a Transkei trading, dairy and beef farming town and has an extreme climate with snow falling on the
142 higher grounds annually; during winter and the hot summers are frequented by thunderstorms and hail.
Historical and Social Context
Historically, the school has only been in use for roughly four years (it opened in 2007) and therefore does not have an extensive history. The community of Shayamoya saw the building of 4 500 RDP houses, causing a massive boom in the population. A small school community of fourteen students rose rapidly to two hundred and fifty in 2003, when this occurred and the school, which was housed in a host farm called Seven Fountains, was evicted from the premises. An abandoned hostel was then converted to a make – shift school for the children but this saw them in dire circumstances. There were few windows, leaking roofs, no water, electricity, sanitation, trees or shade. This was not a pleasant environment for the children to learn in and unfortunately it is the situation that many rural villages and townships find themselves in. The surrounding community was and still is severely stressed economically, with high levels of unemployment and migrancy. Since the township is located on the outskirts of the main town, there was a sense of separation and alienation, which contributed to the low morale of the people living there. Water sources were also unreliable in the area, as it was constantly being shut off. The design team were thus faced with many issues surrounding the school before it was even built, but it was evident that this was an area which was in great need of an upliftment (Raman, 2009: 30 – 34).
Empirical Data
SITE ACCESS AND ENTRANCE:
The school is located on the outskirts of Kokstad and the township is hard to get to because many of the roads are narrow and there is an absence of street names. It is set in the heart of the RDP housing area, closely surrounded by these, to the point where one could almost miss the school (Fig 7.2). There appears to be only one entrance to the school and this is a small, narrow driveway leading to a small parking lot. From the street there is a large, noticeable sign and the architectural form and language is somewhat defined to a passer – by, which is achieved by use of materials and textures. Once inside the parking lot, there appears to be no well – defined entrance, except signs leading one to the administration and staff offices.
143
Figure 7.2: Site plan of the Seven Fountains School in Kokstad (Raman, 2009: 30, altered by author).
Figure 7.3: Ground floor plan of the Seven Fountains School in Kokstad (Raman, 2009: 31, altered by author).
144 SPATIAL ORGANISATION:
The school is only a primary school, catering for 4 – 13 year olds and thus does not include a high school. A community square – type, open space forms the pivotal point for the layout and the rest of the spaces are connected to this in some way. All of the classrooms have their own playground so that the children can socialise with those of their own age groups and this also prevents the older children from hurting the younger ones, during play. The main central space, which doubles as the seven to ten year olds playground, is a large space, which is accessed via a curving set of steps, so that an informal amphitheatre is formed. A basketball court, which also doubles as the eleven to thirteen year olds playground, can also be used as an amphitheatre, with a set of steps also leading down into it (Fig 7.3). There are ramps for any disabled children to get down to these spaces. Some of the classrooms have mezzanine levels, particularly for the older children and there are also general/multi – purpose classrooms of different sizes so that they can be used for any type of activity.
Adding a mezzanine level to classrooms is an interesting aspect as this allows a secretive nook for children to engage in quieter activities by themselves or with others. An oval shaped multi – purpose classroom sits at the bottom of the plan, at one corner of the open central space and appears to be the focal point of the entire ensemble. The layout is not traditionally a rectangular grid form but instead, the square classrooms have been offset to
Figure 7.4: First floor plan of the Seven Fountains School in Kokstad (Raman, 2009: 31, altered by author).
145 differing angles to create interesting or somewhat awkward spaces. There is also the provision of a media centre, library and kitchen (Fig 7.3). Some of the classrooms are located on the second floor, being accessed from stairs or an interesting ramp situated near the basketball/amphitheatre space, however this ramp is slightly far away from some of the classrooms, but close to the entrance (Fig 7.4). It also serves as a place for the children to stand and watch if there is anything happening in the basketball/secondary amphitheatre space.
About seventy per cent of the teaching spaces are north – facing, having walkways on the south side so that over – shading in winter is avoided. Solar shading is further assisted by light shelves made of galvanised metal, which reflect light much deeper into the classrooms.
Furthermore, blackboards in the classrooms have been positioned on the south side so that glare from them is reduced. All of these efforts were made so that the use of artificial lighting can be reduced. The architects believed that natural lighting is more conducive to learning conditions than artificial lighting, a fact which has been studied and proven all over the world. A building study and post – occupancy evaluation carried out on the school (Haw, Carew and Matyeni, 2008: 2) shows that the above – mentioned efforts in reducing the use of artificial lighting has been successful as there is a sufficient amount of natural light coming into the classrooms. The lights installed in the classrooms are hardly used, except on the occasions when there is hardly any sunlight. This has a positive impact, because the electricity consumption is greatly reduced and in a poverty – stricken area such as Kokstad, this is a great relief for the financial upkeep of the school.
In summary, the layout and spatial considerations for the school provides an architectural composition which allows for the free play and movement of the children and this is further enhanced by the aesthetic treatment and tectonic detailing. The angular layout allowed for the formation of intimate playgrounds/courtyards, which is ideal for young children‟s privacy and feelings of safety. This planning is also a shift from the institutional planning of many schools, creating an architectural juxtaposition which enables the children to move about freely, yet safely, so that they appreciate their environment even more (Fig 7.3 and 7.4).
146 SENSORY AND TECTONIC DETAILING:
One of the main reasons for analysing this school as a case study was for the conceptual approach taken by the architects; the main concept was the design of an environment to serve as a pedagogic tool for children and this is achieved through the application of sensory and tectonic detailing. The sensory approach is simple, but carefully considered and appears effective. A building study conducted on the school (Haw, Carew and Matyeni, 2008: 2) states that at the previous premises, the children were regularly absent from school, however this absenteeism record has dropped from fifty per cent to almost zero per cent, since the children have moved into the new premises. This can only conclude that the children feel more positive about their current environment and enjoy being at school, every day. Part of this would be the positive attitudes of the educators but mostly, this can be attributed to the child – friendly environment of the buildings and spaces, which entice the children through the use of sensory variations.
The first aspect, which strikes a person entering the school, is the use of different materials, textures and colours. These appeal to the visual and tactile senses of the children, creating different atmospheres to the spaces and buildings. Corrugated sheeting, pleasant shades of brickwork, adobe construction, dolomite stones, gum poles and thatch all form part of the material palette used in the aesthetic finish of the school (Tab 7.1). The architects conducted a materials survey of the area and concluded that adobe construction was the most prevalent.
The multi – purpose classroom was the only part of the school built out of 16 000 adobe bricks. All of the materials are used in such a fashion that not only do they complement each other, but they enhance the sensory experience of the building. Each one has a different texture, colour and finish, some hard, some cold, some rough or smooth, yet all appealing to the touch. Colour has been used to enhance the walls and the colours used are not the bright primary colours of children‟s toys. Instead they are shades of yellow, green and blue, all of which are not too stimulating, yet they brighten up the facades. These colours also serve as a form of orientation, with different blocks and spaces being different colours, so that the children can remember that they belong to the classroom of the block which is coloured green, for example (Table 7.2). Another unique aspect to the design is the incorporation of murals on the spaces between windows. These were painted by the local women and are in pleasing colours with simple patterns (Table 7.1).
147
Table 7.1: A sensory map showing the materials palette used in the construction of the school (Source: Author).
>>
>
p#tlltatl4lll<l#iJatd#HS
QO
148
Table 7.2: A sensory map showing the colour palette (Source: Author).
"'"-
Dpttr~~t~e-.et-.rtJ
fWd tilt$
I
eo
ooms)
149
Table 7.3: A sensory map showing the sensory elements at the school (Source: Author).
piltHCtte,.tt~Uil 4Jtttdillt$
gum pole pergolas and clever light orientation create sensory shadows