The sprawling township of KwaNobuhle lacks a real town center, with few formal businesses and landmarks. Many well-located properties along its busiest streets remain largely vacant for a “future town center.” Previously a bus drop-off point, the well-exposed corner of Mabandla and Poswa Streets was vacant except for several informal sellers who set up along the busy edge of Mabandla Street to catch passing pedestrian traffic.
Commissioned by NMMM through the Uitenhage Despatch Development Initiative (UDDI), a variety of street businesses, primarily formed by youth, was formalized. It is essential that projects like these evolve into civic structures that serve as landmarks within the urban context while promoting small-scale street businesses.
The facility is deliberately designed to appear large, scaled to its immediate surroundings, including the petrol station canopy across the street, billboards, mast lights, and the wide, busy Mabandla Street.
The inverted aero foil canopy floats atop exaggerated inclined stanchions, which serve as structural supports, parking demarcation, and lighting posts. This canopy creates an architectural language that is unmistakably vehicular in nature, innovatively mimicking the filling station across the road while welcoming pedestrian activity. Shop cubicles punctuate the street façades during trading hours, transforming into solid roller shutter elements when the building is closed.
Casual passers-by are encouraged to linger at an inviting seating area on the corner of the site, complemented by an innovative drinking fountain, both vibrantly embellished with mosaic tiles. The hemi-circular backrest wall of the seating area cleverly forms a billboard plinth, displaying the complex’s name in stainless steel cut-out lettering. River stone ‘tesserae’ architraves surround small window openings along the rear façade, providing a humane proportion to the neighboring properties.
This space serves as a place to wash cars and fit tires, but it also functions as a positive and popular gathering spot for people to visit and linger, enhancing the street edge.
noh ARCHITECTS 