Emmanuel Daycare Centre

The small kindergarten Emanuel Day Care is situated in the township Orange Farm on the southern outskirts of Johannesburg. In a corrugated iron shack 50 children up to the age of 6 were taken care of in a very confined space. On the suggestion of the Department of Social Development of Johannesburg the Austrian NGO Sarch in cooperation with the South African NGO Education Africa initiated the rebuilding of the kindergarten Emanuel Day Care on the existing site.

A team of 19 students of Vienna University of Technology developed and constructed the new building for the kindergarten, which provides separated spaces for babies and preschool kids, a kitchen, an office and sanitary facilities. A big roof-structure covers and connects all these functions and makes up sheltered areas in between. To foster the kids` spatial experience the students introduced climbing walls, stairs and slides to make different levels of the building accessible.

The construction site in Orange Farm – far away from the environment the students are used to, not only in geographical, but also in social terms – became their place of work and learning for six intense weeks.