Lapalala Wilderness School in the Waterberg region of Limpopo, scooped joint second place in the Completed Buildings: Schools’ Category at the 2023 World Architecture Festival held in Singapore at the start of December. It also scored a ‘Highly Commended’ award.

The school is widely recognised as a centre of excellence for its environmental education programmes, covering youth development, outreach and teacher training programmes; and tertiary level and internships.

Designed by Local Studio, an architecture firm based in Brixton, Johannesburg, the new Lapalala Wilderness School Campus opened in November 2022 and is a true off-the-grid, eco-build with nett-zero carbon status.

Representing both Local Studio and Lapalala Wilderness School in Singapore was Director and Project Architect of Local Studio, Daniel Trollip.

At the heart of the school offering is its three- to five-day centre-based Environmental Education Programme, which caters for children and young adults from all cultural and economic backgrounds. The main objective is to spark an interest in the natural world and cultivate an appreciation of wilderness environments.

“It was such an incredible honour to have been nominated by our partners Local Studio. Making the shortlist was exciting, but then to have received second place in the Schools Category is beyond my wildest imagination. The added kudos of being Highly Commended makes me proud of the creativity of architecture in this country,” said the school’s Director, Mashudu Makhokha.

Unique features of the campus

• The campus layout was intentionally designed to make creative, efficient use of space, with shared and private areas blending with the natural landscape of rehabilitated bushveld along the Palala River.
• Soil from foundation excavations was used to create rammed earth walls, which provide natural insulation and effective noise reduction.
• The physical classrooms, library, dining hall, and learners' dormitories are light and airy, with clean, uncluttered décor in white, natural wood, and earth tones. 
• An amphitheatre serves as an outdoor auditorium, and shaded courtyards provide for more informal learning spaces.
• The Boma, with a fire pit as the focal point, provides a space for stargazing and interactive learning through storytelling.
• Indigenous grasses, succulents, medicinal plants, and a vegetable garden have been planted to beautify, educate, treat, and feed the learners at the school.
• A swimming pool offers relief from the heat and a place to unwind and have some fun.
• When it comes to nett-zero certification focusing on carbon, water, waste, and ecology, the Lapalala Wilderness School campus met all the requirements for the certification. All power is generated on-site via a hybrid integrated solar power system with batteries. Water is sourced from two boreholes, rainwater is harvested into tanks, and wastewater is collected, treated, and reused.