M. Tech. Architecture (Applied) / The aim of the thesis is to design a public swimming pool that re-connects street and river within a particular urban condition. The ground plane of the selected site is manipulated to facilitate a physical and visual connection with the river. Wetlands form part of the landscape surrounding the facility and on urban scale to assist in the cleaning and re-use of water from the canal. The proposal includes two pools accommodating different human interactions with water. The buildings are designed as a transitional space between inside and outside. The site was carefully selected based on the mix of current educational facilities, offices and residential accommodation. The site was developed using various layers namely: Private swimming, public swimming, spill out spaces, as well as spectator and passer-by contact. It is envisioned that the proposal will form part of the larger Tshwane 2055 framework aiming to revitalize the Pretoria CBD, although canalized, the Aapies River forms an important life giving artery adjacent to the Nelson Mandela Corridor. As part of the design proposal, it is envisioned that the canal be used as a floating walkway in future with follies linking specific sites and the river at strategic points. The proposed lap pool adheres to international standards. Both the pools step towards the canal, providing a different spatial and sensory experience. The design may serve as a guideline for future proposals along the canal. URBAN SWIMMING must inspire social growth and promote swimming as both a sport and a recreational activity.

M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / A substantial proportion of the African population is deprived of access to safe and reliable food. Many people in Tshwane currently live with long-term malnutrition, seeing that food insecurity is growing most rapidly in formal urban areas, referred to as food deserts, due to their limited access to food. Designing urban environments for local food security has become imperative. This dissertation presents the design of a research centre to promote a resilient urban food systems in Sunnyside, Pretoria. A combination of high- and low-intensity cultivation methods is integrated into the building to create a balance between optimised crop yield and community participation and education. The holistic integration of systems, people and the built environment aims to create a building that is not merely a machine for living, but a living machine.

M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / The aim of the dissertation is to create an architectural interpretation of a new interactive center. The center will explore the adaption of buildings in a natural context within the city of Pretoria, to promote research, solutions and understanding of climate change in a developing country that is dependent on energy. The awareness center will be situated on a prominent untouched site within the Innovation Hub campus. The aspiration for this site is to reintroduce the link between two major research facilities namely the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the University of Pretoria (UP). The development of the design will investigate the following issues: The background and effect of climate change; Climate change as a reality and architecture in an eco-systemic approach; and How architecture should respond to climate change and nature.

M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / The aim of this research is to design a trauma centre for abused women and children in the Mamelodi area, which will aid their recovery from extremely distressful and traumatic events. The current system focuses on the immediate effects of abuse and rape. Very few resources are avalable in terms of supporting the survivor's long term emotional and psychological wellbeing. The objectives of the proposed facility will focus on psychological and emotional care as well as addressing the lack of psychologigal facilities and spatial quality in healing spaces.

M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / Herbalism has been practised by various cultures in various countries around the world, including China, India and Africa for thousands of years. South Africa is home to a rich variety of medicinal plant species. Our natural resources and existing knowledge of traditional medicines and treatments form part of our heritage and should be protected, studied, documented and further researched to ensure the safe and effective use of herbal remedies for the public and future generations. Current issues that we are facing in South Africa are the informality of traditional medicines and the concern that the industry is unregulated, misunderstood by many and that the survival of our natural plant resources is under threat as a result of overexploitation. In response, this dissertation addresses these issues through the design of a consulting healthcare and research facility for natural medicine within Hatfield, Pretoria. The facility is intended to reach and educate the urban community in an attempt to bridge the gap between formal and informal medical fields. Urban agriculture will aim to form the foundation of the learning experience by promoting public awareness for natural medicine and the conservation of our natural resources regarding medicinal plants in a practical, experimental and experiential way. The proposed facility sets out to formalise indigenous traditional medicine in order to arrive at a sustainable commodity within the African urban environment. A further aim is to draw together various natural healing practices and processes experienced in the modern world, such as herbalism, homeopathy, osteopathy, naturopathy and chiropractic. This shared facility should create a symbiotic environment where these natural medicine modalities can operate within a controlled and regulated environment. In so doing, traditional practices may safely be commercialised as a proven alternative to allopathic medicine. The target user for this project will be the middle to high income urban groups that rely primarily on formal medical practices. Evidence based design principles informed the programme of the building relating to the creation of healing environments within healthcare centres.

M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / The Old Jewish Synagogue on Paul Kruger Street in the centre of Pretoria is the foundation for this thesis project. This heritage building facilitated some of the most pivotal events in apartheid history - the Treason Trial of former president Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, and the Steve Biko Inquest. For decades restoration attempts have not been fruitful, due to the costs involved paired with impractical reuse functions for the building and the surrounding site. This thesis project aims to once again make the Old Synagogue accessible to the public, through suitable incorporation of the building, as well as its site, into the urban fabric. Therefore this document is structured chronologically - as information was acquired through the year, to reach a solution.

M. Tech. Architecture Professional / This thesis presents the argument that the concept of urban farming can help resolve the problem of the displacement of agriculture in distant locations from consumers, which either results in the escalation of food costs or the loss of the farmer's profit, which inevitably results in less food producers. The market place addresses the lack of formalised trading space, providing job opportunities for an increasing urban population, along a busy pedestrian route. The thesis concludes through the illustration of a design project from the resulting research, on a triangular city block on the periphery of Central Pretoria.

M. Tech. Architecture / The design of a digital, genealogical archival repository in Pretoria West for the preservation of South African family histories, that will inter alia, provide free public access to such archived material, is proposed. Oppression brought about by colonialism and apartheid in South Africa ultimately led to domination by one racial group, resulting in the inadequate documentation of the personal histories of the majority of the population; an omission which may be remediated by the archiving of family histories. Archival buildings are custodians of the valuable items of heritage for future generations. However, due to the strenuous and time intensive nature of the genealogical research process, the National Archives and Records Service does not, currently, effectively address this lack, which has led to this field of research being privately practiced. An archive of family history to be housed in Pretoria West, an industrial area characterised by vacant and abandoned buildings in need of intervention, is proposed. The design seeks to adapt a grain silo which forms a part of an old flour mill complex on Charlotte Maxeke Street. An exploration into the building's past as a place which stores, secures and protects the contents within it, led to its selection as a suitable host for an archive which will utilise the preservative functional logic of the silo as a place of storage and security.

M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / The National Research Foundation has recognized the zoo as a critical player towards the conservation of animal heritage in southern Africa. Yet, as we have seen, tantamount to having outstanding research methods, is having the needed facilities to deploy them effectively. In order for this to come to bare, the zoo requires a careful assessment of architectural concerns. This thesis presents exactly those. The wildlife medical centre here proposed precipitates out of a comprehensive study engaging the following issues of concern; zoo healthcare and rehabilitation, sub-nature and animal architecture. The proposed site location currently supports the out-dated hospital (built in 1969), which is on the zoo's south-eastern corner along Boom Street. Its facilities include a veterinary hospital, research laboratories, a bio-bank, temporary wards, and rehabilitation wards whose design derives not only from traditional matters of architectural concern but also the informed, first-hand knowledge of the animals' needs and preferences as understood by the zoo's staff. Additionally, the proposed design exposes and showcases the zoo's research facilities along its public interface in order to better serve its educational efforts. Thus, this proposal presents the means for promoting conservation awareness and, at the same time, empowers its dedicated staff.

M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / South Africa has some way to go before it catches up to developed countries in terms of musical education and production. Since musical skills are expensive to develop, and not currently taught at school level, a lack of funding results in many impoverished individuals missing out on the opportunity to develop musical skills that could ultimately bring about multiple career opportunities. This dissertation involves the design of a music centre on the periphery of Sunnyside, for surrounding school pupils and local youths. The centre will function as a musical education facility and public meeting space, in an urban district. The development of this new facility would hopefully act as a catalyst for the rejuvenation of the pedestrian walkway next to the Walker Spruit; by integrating and redesigning the green space next to the proposed site