Sunshine School for Specialised Education, Uitenhage

A renovation in Uitenhage, the school comprises six blocks connected with covered walkways to accommodate 300 learners for specialised education.

Client: Department of Public Works, Eastern Cape

Typology: Education

Location: Uitenhage, South Africa

Date: Completed May 2012

Photo Credit: Rob Duker

A raised canopy announces the entrance to the complex, and connects the administration building and dining room/kitchen. Twenty classrooms for orientation, junior, middle and senior phase learners flank the specialist rooms that accommodate practical subjects including Woodwork, Hair Dressing, Domestic Science and Arts & Culture; while Occupational, Speech and Physiotherapy rooms, including a Hydrotherapy pool, are located in the central courtyard.

The Jubilee Hall was previously used for teaching due to a lack of space, and has been fully renovated, transforming an aging building into a bright, modern facility with a new kitchen, stage lighting, and access for people with disabilities. Sunshine School is now an integral part of Jubilee Park and surrounds where parents have embraced the value of specialised education, vocational classes and therapy-related services to the learners and wider community.