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Hout Bay Arts & Recreation Centre -
Architect Jo Noero used polished concrete as a cost-effective way of transforming a humble material into a striking visual element of the space at the Denis Goldberg House of Hope in Hout Bay. -
House of Hope’s five buildings are linked by a covered concrete walkway, reinforcing notions of openness, connectivity and access to the outdoors. -
In the main entrance foyer, a mural of Denis Goldberg portraits created by local schoolchildren greets visitors. -
In the centre’s main activity space, an exhibition details Goldberg’s life. -
Outside, an informal amphitheatre provides a communal ground for training, performances and impromptu collaborations. -
A brightly painted ceiling and circular skylights add brightness and a sense of space to a side corridor. -
A staircase bathed in natural light connects the ground-floor teaching space to the mezzanine – home to the library and archive for the lived history of both Goldberg and the community. -
A staircase bathed in natural light connects the ground-floor teaching space to the mezzanine – home to the library and archive for the lived history of both Goldberg and the community. -
Circular windows are a recurring element in the building, signifying togetherness and looking outwards. -
The upstairs archive and library will eventually grow into a hub for young people from the surrounding community to research and record local stories and lived experiences -
Architect Jo Noero worked with both scale and materials to integrate the centre into the Hout Bay Museum site. Faceted roof shapes mimic farm structures, while the simple white colour scheme creates a link between the new additions and the existing buildings. -
Architect Jo Noero worked with both scale and materials to integrate the centre into the Hout Bay Museum site. Faceted roof shapes mimic farm structures, while the simple white colour scheme creates a link between the new additions and the existing buildings.
WORDS Richard Holmes PHOTOS Paris Brummer
Hidden away in Hout Bay is the House of Hope – a youth development centre that is a total antithesis of where activist Denis Goldberg spent 20 years of his life.
Key to Jo Noero’s design is a sense of openness and connectivity – a conscious response to the decades Denis Goldberg spent in confinement.
Most visitors to the Cape Town suburb of Hout Bay probably drive right past Andrews Road, focused instead on seeking out the scenic views from the top of Chapman’s Peak, or the picturesque harbour and beachfront. But up this leafy residential side street waits both an architectural gem and a fitting tribute to the person once dubbed “the most dangerous white man in South Africa”.
His name was Denis Goldberg, and he was one of the anti-apartheid activists convicted alongside Nelson Mandela at the infamous Rivonia Trial. Sentenced to life imprisonment, Goldberg endured more than 20 years of brutal confinement in Pretoria Central Prison before being released in 1985. After exile in London, in 2002 he returned to South Africa and eventually settled in Hout Bay, close to his niece and her husband, the architect Jo Noero.
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“He decided that he was going to dedicate his life to uplifting the local community, and he focused on the idea of culture as a point of entry to youth development,” explains Jo.
The focal point of that commitment is the Denis Goldberg House of Hope, a multi-functional arts and education centre that opened in April 2022. Built on a wooded site alongside the Hout Bay Museum, the House of Hope stands as both a memorial to Goldberg – there’s an exhibition on his life, and a gallery housing his extensive art collection – and a communal arts and culture space for the youth of Hout Bay.
“They do hip-hop, they do art classes. They do all kinds of things,” says Jo, who drew on constructivist architectural elements to create a central space he calls a “social condenser”. “It’s a place where people can gather, where all kinds of activities can happen. If tourists come to discover Denis’s life, they can see his exhibition panels – but at the back, they’ll hear kids in class. The idea is that you are aware of all the activities happening at the centre simultaneously.”
Key to Jo’s design is a sense of openness and connectivity – a conscious response to the decades Goldberg spent in confinement. “Denis wanted space,” says Jo. “He wanted openness, and wherever you were in the building, he wanted to be able to connect to the outside physically and visually.”
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Aside from those visual cues, it’s also a supremely efficient use of space in a project with a limited budget. “Denis was a rationalist; he was very logical. So I tried to treat the building in that spirit,” says Jo. “There’s no superfluous waste. Everything is what it is, and no more. We had a small budget, and we had to make every single cent count.”
The current House of Hope forms the first phase of the project, with plans to add additional classroom spaces in the future. Whatever form that takes, the spiritual heart of the centre will remain the small memorial garden where Denis Goldberg’s ashes are planted beneath an acacia tree. “He’s now at home on the site,” says Jo. “The centre is all around him – and he can watch over the kids.”
On 30 November 2022, House of Hope was announced as the winner of the World Architecture Festival’s (WAF)’Completed Buildings: Civic & Community’ category.
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