We were tasked to design and refurbish an existing small library for a Non-Profit called Afrika Tikkun.  The brief was to simply replace the carpet and paint the walls.  We challenged this by using the little resources available to reimagine the library as a sanctuary for learners across all age groups within a space that is relevant to the digital age.  This process quickly evolved into refreshing five libraries across their five centres.  Afrika Tikkun’s mission is to develop young people from cradle to career and their five locations throughout the country help to support learners in typically vulnerable areas.

Located in township suburbs, the new library projects were designed to transform learning and development in underprivileged township communities.

An engaging participation workshop was held with learners to identify opportunities in the project design, and to familiarise the team with the site context. As part of our design process, and in order to develop common ground, we started with a learner participation workshop within the existing library to establish a space for dialogue using the content and outcomes of the workshop as a catalyst for continued learning.  Since the libraries were small and resources were limited, we wanted to focus on two main design interventions – a hand drawn mural to form a bold feature connecting the library zones, and a floor pattern that could be adapted to suit other library locations based on the information we received from learners.