Students transform abandoned shack into award-winning youth hub
A partnership between UP architecture students and the community has turned a shack in Melusi into a youth centre.
A new timber-clad youth centre in the Melusi informal settlement, west of Pretoria has earned national praise after receiving the Maverick Prize at the Timber Design Competition.
The structure, known as MYDO 2, was designed and built by University of Pretoria (UP) Architecture Honours students working closely with residents.
What was once an abandoned shack is now a 6.6m x 3.2m meeting space that allows the Melusi Youth Development Organisation to reach more young people with programmes and support.
Image: (UP) Architecture
UP spokesperson Sashlin Girraj said the youth centre was built alongside a new waiting area for the Community Orientated Primary Care Clinic.
“Both structures came out of workshops where residents and students explored how to improve daily life in the area,” said Girraj.
He explains that the project demonstrates the power of working directly with communities.
Girraj said the collaboration shows what becomes possible when students, researchers and community members come together to address real needs on the ground.
“The recognition from the Timber Design Competition is a testament to that partnership.”
The timber buildings can be taken apart and moved if the settlement is upgraded, making them practical for an area where long-term plans may change.
He added that the design teams used careful site analysis to shape buildings that are simple, calm and responsive to their surroundings.
(UP) Architecture
“The new clinic space now gives visitors shelter in bad weather, and MYDO has a safe, dedicated place to expand its programmes.
“The university has made the project’s building manuals publicly available so that others can copy or adapt the designs.”
Girraj said the manuals are open source because UP wants the work to benefit more communities.
He added that the project forms part of a broader research initiative in the Department of Architecture, aimed at addressing social and spatial challenges in informal settlements.
“Residents and researchers also created community action plans that outline the needs and future hopes of Melusi.”
Girraj said these plans can help guide the municipality when planning upgrades or service delivery.
Sara ‘Mamthembu’ Mojapelo, caretaker at the clinic, said residents appreciate the upgrade and the dignity it brings.
She said adding value is often about taking the first step and choosing to do something useful.
According to project lead, Professor Carin Combrinck, the action plans capture how residents see the future of their area and give them a tool to express those needs clearly.
UP believes the plans, together with the new buildings, can support more inclusive and practical urban upgrading.
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