Shifting perceptions

WORDS: Remy Raitt

When you think of a Gold-Loerie-winning building, a police station wouldn’t be the first to spring to mind – not unless you’ve seen Makeka Design Lab’s Retreat railway police station, that is.

Nabbing a Gold in the Communication Design: Three Dimensional & Environmental Design – Architecture category at the 2011 Loeries, the station wasn’t just awarded for its clever design but also for the difference it will make in the community.

Architect Mokena Makeka says he felt the brand of the police needed to be transformed, and that this is what sparked the station’s design. “People respond and react to space and the symbolism of buildings,” he says. “In much the same way that a casino that looked like a mosque would fail, or a bedroom that resembled a brewery would be dysfunctional, architectural character has a psychological effect on people’s behaviour.”

Mokena set out to create a building that would transform the image of the police, and the way in which SAPS members see themselves.

“I decided that if a traumatised person was walking toward the station to lay a complaint or seek refuge, they should have no doubt in their mind they were headed to a progressive, safe and civic place,” says Mokena. “I know that, as an architect, I’m ultimately powerless to define how people shall behave, but I have extensive influence over how people use space and interrelate to each other.”

A sure-footed addition to the landscape

According to Mokena, every building in the city plays a part in forming that locations identity – even a humble police station. This idea of the function of the building informed its design. The architect describes it as a “humble and yet sure-footed insertion in the landscape”, an authentic structure that makes use of natural light, a dynamic roof and little additional adornment.

“The design seeks to create an internal community, but also embraces its public role. It doesn’t turn its back on the street, but actually invites and suggests a lifestyle, which is an escape from the inevitable brutality police are witness to,” says Mokena.

He let the immediate landscape help influence his architectural decision too. The scale of the adjoining buildings, sight lines and what the building would have to offer at night – namely street surveillance – all influenced his decisions in creating a building that looks like it belongs.

And Mokena says it makes sense why his building received recognition at the Loeries: architecture has the capacity to communicate values and intentions, and this effective communication as well creating positive brands is what the Loeries is all about. “The brand of the police in the eyes of the community and SAPS was transformed by the aesthetic communication of the building. It represents a shift from the heavy, intimidating police force into a light, accessible and humane police service.”

The Makeka Design Lab has been very busy and when VISI asked how their Museum of Design, Innovation, Leadership and Art project (MoDILA) was going, Mokena remained tight lipped but assured us all was running well. So, watch this space…

To find out more about the MoDILA project, see our Q & A with Mokena. 

More information: www.makekadesigns.com, www.theloerieawards.co.za