UCT’s iconic d-school Afrika is the top green-certified new academic building in Africa

The Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking Afrika (d-school Afrika) received the 6-Star plaque from the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) in a ceremony held under its impressive glass dome atrium. The accomplishment was a culmination of a long-standing goal.

With sustainability and green building principles core to the university’s Vision 2030 and central to any University of Cape Town (UCT) new builds and major refurbishments, which must meet a minimum 4-Star Green Star certification, the 6-Star plaque – was the first to be awarded to a new academic building on the continent. The project achieved a 6-Star rating via the GBCSA’s Green Star Public & Education Building v1 standard, which is the green building standard for new buildings and major refurbishments.

“Having set a 6-Star rating as our target, we have gained invaluable experience in pushing green boundaries so much further than any other academic institution on the continent, and it has moved us that much closer to our ability to deliver on UCT’s goal of being net-zero carbon by 2050,” said Manfred Braune, UCT’s director for Environmental Sustainability.

Six stars is the highest rating a building can achieve within the Green Star standard, a rating system which exists to encourage and support environmentally sustainable buildings that are kind to both people and planet. The Green Star standard consists of a variety of benchmarks that are addressed during the design and construction phase of a project, including project and construction management, energy consumption, water consumption, waste, emissions from the site, acoustics, renewable energy production, transport and accessibility issues related to the site location and health and well-being of people in the building and during construction.

It is an ethos well matched to that of d-school Afrika founder, philanthropist and entrepreneur Professor Hasso Plattner. It was the Hasso Plattner Foundation which enabled this project to push the envelope on green building innovation. Plattner’s first d-school is at Stanford University in the United States and the second at the University of Potsdam in Germany.

It takes a team to co-create

“The d-school is an iconic building for UCT, and very different to anything we have done in the past,” said Mughtar Parker, the executive director of UCT Properties and Services. He is also the global chairman of the Real Estate Cluster for the International Alliance of Research Universities. This is a network of 11 research-intensive universities, including Singapore, Tokyo, Cambridge, Berkley California and Yale, which share goals and values.

“It’s seen as a leading project by these universities, set apart by its design and location,” Parker added. The school sits on a triangular site on middle campus, easily accessible to pedestrians via a footbridge and Woolsack Drive, from which the building’s north-east side is visible.

“It inspires universities, both on the continent and beyond, in three ways: sustainability, design methodology, and the manner in which we collaborated with the City of Cape Town, internal stakeholders, GBCSA, the Hasso Plattner Foundation, KMH Architects and Leaf Structures, among others.”

It is fitting that this was such a standout team effort from the concept stage, as d-school Afrika, which was initially housed in the UCT Graduate School of Business before moving to its current site in October 2022, exists to teach design-led thinking towards understanding challenges, identifying opportunities and innovating solutions.

Built upon the premise of collaboration, co-creation, empathy, and valuing the input of every player, d-school Afrika opens the world of design thinking to students from all fields of learning. Together, in small multidisciplinary teams, students learn to come up with innovative solutions to complex problems.

In fact, d-school Afrika’s five-step approach to problem solving – empathise, define, ideate prototype and test – were applied to the conceptual visualisation of the project.

Ultimately it is all about our students

The d-school Afrika has been purpose built to harness the power of space and flip traditional academic hierarchical structure on its head with open, mobile, shifting spaces which foster collaboration, creativity and innovation.

“That can’t be taught in traditional environments,” said Richard Perez, the director of the d-school Afrika. “It takes the kind of space that gives students and educators automatic licence to think differently and collaborate. And that’s what this building stands for.”

“I love that this building is all about students,” said Jenni Lombard, the technical manager of GBCSA, looking about the atrium, and pointing out innovative features such as the large electronic dashboard which broadcasts green updates on the building. She noted the natural light, cool comfort thanks to open windows high up under the atrium, the outlook on trees and nature, and devices to dampen acoustics.

“The d-school Afrika is groundbreaking. What I love most is that it’s a teaching institute, which uses devices to get information across in a really cool way.”

She also pointed out the QR codes in different sites, where students can log in to learn about an interesting green feature within the building.

“The d-school Afrika is groundbreaking. What I love most is that it’s a teaching institute, which uses devices to get information across in a really cool way. It impacts the visitor on a different level, allowing them to take on board principles in a way that other buildings don’t. I hope students, even if they don’t consciously realise it, will take some of these principles on into their places of work and lives one day, even if it is only the 360-degree views.”

Other honours awarded to d-school Afrika

In addition to the 6-Star Green Star rating, the school claimed the 2023 South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE) Technical Excellence Project of the Year Commendation Award, thanks in large part to the vast glass dome that tops the atrium.

It was also named overall winner at the South African Property Association’s annual awards, thanks to its innovative design, functionality and environmental sustainability features, as well as taking further awards for innovation and sustainability.

“Personally, these awards fill me with immense pride,” said Parker. “This building is the culmination of a collaborative effort, and it says we are the best on the continent. We are UCT.”

And plans going forwards?

“We have an opportunity to embrace getting tech smart for sustainability. This is just the beginning.”