Architecture: Cape Town’s French School

WORDS Malibongwe Tyilo IMAGES Adam Letch via Archdaily.com VIDEO via Julia Abell on YouTube

The former Tafelberg Junior School building on Sea Point’s Kings Road had been vacant since 2010, when the school moved out.

In 2012, the Western Cape government, which owns the building, put out a public tender for its occupation, which was won by the French School in 2013. Cape Town-based architectural practice, Kritzinger Architects spent much of 2014 working on renovations that transformed the 1930s building into a combination of the old and contemporary.

With a construction budget of R13.4 million, the brief was for a low-cost refurbishment of existing facilities, as well as additional space for a new cafeteria and library. To this end, the existing hall was refurbished with the addition of the new two-storey cafeteria and library. This new building, made with a simple concrete frame and timber screens to provide shade for the 1^st floor library, made use of low-cost materials such as Oriented Strand Board, SA pine and plywood, lending the school’s old architecture a thoroughly contemporary edge. The existing building was also re-planned to accommodate additional classrooms and to open up the courtyard to allow more natural light in.

In 2015, the French School was shortlisted for the Cape Institute for Architects Award, as well as being awarded the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa Eco-School label for sustainable design.

(h/t) Archdaily.com