Guga S´Thebe Theatre

The Guga S´ Thebe Children Theatre project is part of a Design Build Program 2012-2015, where students from different international schools – the Peter Behrens School of Arts (HS Duesseldorf), RWTH Aachen University (Aachen), Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta), University of Cape Town -designed and built a theatre and performance space as an extension to the current Arts and Culture Centre Guga S’Thebe. The projects was built in collaboration with the South African architect, Carin Smuts (CS Studio, CPT) and the structural engineering company imagine structure GmbH (Frankfurt).

Located in one of Cape Town’s oldest townships, the Arts and Culture Centre Guga S’Thebe attracts local children, adolescents, and artists, as well as international tourists. One of its additional programmatic needs was a large multipurpose space.

The new space facilitates local theatrical productions, exhibitions, lectures, concerts, dance performances and festivals. The multifunctional theater, which seats up to 200 people, consists of a system of loosely stacked sea freight containers, surrounding a central theater space. The interior side spaces of the containers incorporate programmatic elements such as backstage areas, a soup kitchen, music training spaces, a recording studio and sanitary facilities.

Initiative

AIT-ArchitekturSalon, Hamburg/Köln, Kristina Bacht

Client

Department of Arts and Culture, City of Cape Town + residents of Langa

Design / Realisation

Peter Behrens School of Arts, Faculty of Architecture

Judith Reitz, Franz Klein-Wiele

RWTH Aachen University, Faculty of Architecture

Bernadette Heiermann, Nora Elisabeth Müller

Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Architecture

Daniel Baerlecken, Katherine Wright

CS Studio Architects, Carin Smuts

Structural engineers

imagine structure GmbH, Arne Künstler

MiTek, Clayten Gouws/ Conrad v. Zyl/ Schalk Brits

Karl Hvidsten

Electrical engineer

S. Imail Consulting Electrical Engineers

Fire engineer: solutionstation

Energy consultant: Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH

Acoustic engineer: Peutz Akustik

container transformation: Heribert Weegen

straw-clay: Elias Rubin

electrical installation: Dorman Projects

Technical Description

The new space facilitates local theatrical productions, exhibitions, lectures, readings, concerts, dance performances and festivals. The multifunctional theater, which seats up to 200 people, consists of a system of loosely stacked sea freight containers, surrounding a central theater space. The interior side spaces of the containers incorporate programmatic elements such as backstage areas, a soup kitchen/ cookery, music training spaces, a recording studio and sanitary facilities. The support structure is divided into two elements: a wood construction roof system and a steel support structure linked to the containers.  The structure
of the roof is based on a manually produced, readily available, and cost- effective nail plate binder and widely used in South African industrial construction. The V-shaped structure characterizes the main view of the theater and remains visible in the interior. In order to improve the interior climate the entire outer skin of the theater is covered with prefabricated straw-clay modules. The wooden frame of the modular system is made from recycled pallets, which are clamped onto a folding formwork. The straw-clay panels are covered with a layer of cladding made from recycled local fruit crate boards.

Combining reused or recycled waste materials with traditional earth construction methods is a critical component in the development of low-cost construction methods. The research within the program focused on full-scale, developmental, neovernacular structures, which experimented with such composite materials.  Combining the recycled/ re-used materials with smart energy concepts was essential.

Blog

Guga Theatre 2016

2016 the local township community, local artists and the Department for Arts and Culture of the City of Cape Town have made diverse use of the Theatre space. The soup kitchen is now used as Café/ Bar and run by local township citizens.

File
(PDF)
File
(PDF)

Facts

Students
Students from Peter Behrens School of Arts, Faculty of Architecture, Students from RWTH Aachen University, Faculty of Architecture, Students from Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Architecture, Students from University of Cape Town, Faculty of Architecture, Students from Detmold School of Architecture and Interior Architecture, Students from Habitat for Humanity, Cape Town
Client
Department of Arts and Culture, City of Cape Town and residents of Langa
Collaborating Organisations
Project Implementation
Peter Behrens School of Arts, Faculty of Architecture, Judith Reitz, Franz Kleine Wiele
Project Implementation
Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Architecture Digital Fabrication Lab Daniel Baerlecken Katherine Wright
Project Implementation
CS Studio Architects, CPT, Carin Smuts
Project Implementation
Imagine Structure Frankfurt, Arne Künstler
Project Implementation
AIT-ArchitekturSalon, Hamburg/Köln, Kristina Bacht

Academic Discipline(s)
Architecture and Interior Architecture
350 Students
Academic Level(s)
Bachelor and Master
Academic Facts

Site / Structure Dimension
600m2
Periods
Project Start
2013
Discipline
Transportation of Skill
Project Context
Project Type
Function
Care / Education | Community / Culture
Construction Methods/Techniques
Other Methods/Techniques
Recycling
Other Material
Shipping Container