Southbank Project
The Africa Centre currently does not own or operate any permanent infrastructure but operates its programmes in a wide variety of places. Ultimately, the Africa Centre will construct a core infrastructure within and supported by a residential community, which will be known as the Southbank. The Southbank, located on the Spier Estate, will represent a radical, new way of living and working. It will embrace social equity, environmental conservation, creative freedom and the rich history of African heritage and culture as its tenants.
The Southbank community will have a total footprint of one hundred hectares, 25% of which will form the built environment and the rest will be used for farming and nature conservation. The built environment will include 12,000 square meters of performance, display, studio and research space for the Africa Centre as well as a residential community of 2000 - 3000 people. This residential community will include a broad economic spectrum with 30% of the housing subsidised for lower income residents. The Southbank will also include a wide range of infrastructure needed to support and animate a community such as parks, schools, retail and sporting facilities. The whole community will be developed with strict environmental benchmarks including building materials, waste treatment, energy systems and consumption to name just a few.
This ambitious project was initiated with a major international architectural competition, which attracted entrants from 35 different countries. The competition sought architects and designers able to define and apply new spatial approaches in order to create a community that will serve as a model for sustainable living elsewhere on the continent and beyond. In January 2007 the international judging panel chose the entry conceptualized by thread collective and normaldesign. These agencies based in Brooklyn, New York will implement their scheme in association with a local architectural firm ACG.
The Southbank project is still in the planning phases and will not move into implementation until 2009.
For more information on the Southbank architectural competition
please see the website: www.southbank-competition.org or email info@africacentre.net
