Impactful: The MAAK’s Participatory Library Design Transforms Cape Town School

Designed by The MAAK, Rahmaniyeh Primary School’s new library in District Six is a great example of how a participatory process creates user-oriented educational spaces.

WORDS VISI PHOTOS Kent Andreasen

Cape Town-based architecture studio The MAAK is all about social impact architecture. Founded by Ashleigh Killa and Max Melvill, its mission is to use design as a tool for dignity, connection and positive transformation. The practice specialises in public, cultural and community-oriented projects, which have included early childhood development centres, performing arts spaces, libraries and testing clinics.

With a mission to bring “world-class architecture to those who need it most”, The MAAK’s work is rooted in materials, process and participatory practice, integrating research, community consultation and innovative construction methods. And the latest example is the Rahmah Library at Rahmaniyeh Primary School in Cape Town’s District Six – a vibrant new facility that celebrates how architects and learners can work together to build user-oriented educational spaces.

The approach

True to their methodology of user engagement and co-creation, The MAAK worked with child-centred designer Xanelé Mennen from the Otto Foundation (the operational partner of the scheme), hosting a series of workshops during which the learners essentially became co-authors of their future library. Inviting them to be part of the architecture team provided the team with valuable user insights and informed unique project details. “The workshops helped to gain trust, foster a sense of agency and build excitement for what was coming,” says Xanelé. “Subsequently, the children are deeply invested and well bonded to the library.” The “Rahmah-Rama” bookshelves, for example, were imagined by students and brought to life by local furniture designers Pedersen + Lennard.

To honour the sensitive geo-political history of District Six – an area reshaped by apartheid-era forced removals – The MAAK worked with artist and land researcher Zayaan Khan to transform clay from the neighbourhood (sometimes embedded within the rubble of homes demolished in District Six) into a series of door push plates and decorative tiles. The same clay was used to create custom “District Six bricks”, which were laid into the floor of the entrance lobby and in front of an external drinking fountain.

The structure

The building is defined by a simple mono-pitched roof that rises towards dramatic mountain views to the south and provides shading from the hot sun to the north. A curving glass-block wall leans out beneath the triangle-shaped eastern elevation, creating a welcoming entrance and covered play zone. The exterior is articulated through variations in brick bonds, colour and texture, echoing the material language of the original school building – the oldest remaining school in District Six.

Inside, the library opens as a single, generous volume, with service areas tucked away from view. Echoing the slope of the site, gentle changes in levels subtly organise the interior into its key library zones: a reception area, sunken reading pit, central library core, classroom area, and conversation lounge. Playful details define these spaces and create opportunities to embrace different “postures of reading” throughout the facility – sitting, lounging, alone, in groups.

The result

Rahmah Library is a sanctuary for reading and imagination that symbolises what’s possible when different generations and disciplines design together. It marks a significant milestone for the school, which until recently had no dedicated library facility for its 500+ learners. The completed build stands as a beacon of learning and joy – a space to fall in love with reading and stimulate young minds for many years to come. As school principal Shireen Jaff er says, “It is a home away from home.” themaak.co.za | @the.maak

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