Canadian firm RUFproject worked in collaboration with the Nike Global Football Brand Design to complete this striking Soweto Football Training Centre in South Africa over the course of just six months. The football facility combines multiple fields, training and locker rooms, offices, a gym, a kitchen and more in a building encased in wooden louvers and sandstone. Even though they had such a short time to complete the facility, RUFproject still managed to throw in a lot of sustainable design strategies, including energy-efficient passive solar design.
Is the centre named “Soweta”, because the area where it is located is called Soweto, which stands for South-Western-Townships.
PS: why weren’t South African architects involved in this project? We are also at the forefront of sustainable design, but our industry is in a slump due to the recession and lack of international interest.
A large number of local firms were involved in the project, we worked very closely with SIP Project Management, MMA architects, AKI engineering and Spoormaker & Partners who put in a massive amount of effort to ensure the project was a success. The construction company was Rainbow Construction, and the graphic production company was Grid Worldwide.
Design and creative by RUFproject and Nike Global Football Brand Design, with the exception of three commissioned artworks by Kronk.
Hope this helps….
RUFproject