Blackline Interiors Converts Shipping Container Into Library

IMAGES Jay Jansma

The design team at Blackline Interiors was approached by LegalWise to convert an old shipping container into a library space fit to inspire the young learners at Sizwile School for the Deaf, a non-profit public school located at Jonas Moabi Drive in Dobsonville, Gauteng.

The interior design brief was to convert the small space into a deceptively spacious and comfortable learning environment that would encourage the students to read, learn and study.

Of course, being a shipping container, space was at a premium. As such, the Blackline Interiors team focused on designing space-saving seating and storage systems with easily re-configurable parts.

The hexagonal child-sized reading pods, built-in work areas and pull-down desks are examples of the solutions the Blackline Interiors team came up with to fulfill the brief.

Keeping the young end-users of the space in mind, a vivid primary colour colour scheme was used throughout the library, carried through to the inspirational wall murals filled with newspaper clippings of home-grown South African heroes and eye-catching custom joinery that ties the space together.

“Sizwile was one of the most emotionally involving and rewarding projects I have ever been personally involved in,” says Brandon Williams, founder and director of Blackline Interiors. “The hand-over to the young students was a moment I will never forget. There is nothing like seeing a space you have created come to life through the joy of its inhabitants.”

Blackline Interiors, a division of the Creative Shop Group, specialises in designing interior spaces for retailers, corporate offices, brands and restaurants.

To contact Blackline Interiors about experiential interior design for your brand or business, email info@blacklineretailinteriors.co.za or visit blacklineretailinteriors.co.za for more information.