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Robamano
Limpopo, South Africa
2015



The creche at Robanamo is architecturally one of the most complex ever attempted. The projects are notable for their butterfly roofs and curvy brick walls.

 
Photo credit: Ben Tynegate

A revisit of the project in 2019 results in lots of lessons for the studio. Several modifications have been made to the building in order to make it more fit for purpose, but most of the teaching is taking place in the old building. The head teacher tells us that the buildings are too hot – and too dark. When we visit, there aren’t any children in the design/build studio built buildings.

Image (below) drawn by Fangtong Hu, Xinyi Wu, Archie Moradia & Badih Rameh.

<sup>Staff: John Ramsay, Malcolm Dugdale, Lois Woods, Gareth Woods, Chris Cook, Richard Woods, Alison Davies

Partners: Thusanang Tust, Education Africa, DC construction</sup>

^{Students: Tom Rose, Sebastian Chambers, Wesley Stone, Kiran Shah, Sam Whitehead, Alicia Hollis, Ashleigh Simpson, Charlotte Grasselli, Olivia Redman, Jemima Ashton-Harris, Sara Lohse, Matthew Marsden, Samantha Mooney, Steban Morales, Julia Radka, Daniel Paigge, Dayana Anastasova, Olivia Redman, Matthew Drewitt, Avneesh Poonia, Ben Clarke, Anna Helliar, Annette Sibthorp, Naimish Thanki, Matthew Marsden, Eve Mason, Dominic Blake, Joe Hollis, Ben Tynegate, Matt Cobb}