M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / This thesis encompasses the research and subsequent building design of a Design Centre in Sunnyside Pretoria that specializes in the Applied Arts. This educational training facility will form part of a larger arts precinct. This can be achieved by integrating the immediate surrounding areas in a similar manner as that of Arts on Main in Johannesburg. The proposed project is located in an existing (but not fully developed) arts and design precinct in Sunnyside known as Oeverzicht Arts Village. The anchor facility of this complex will be the Design Centre, offering training and education in Industrial and Product Design, Fashion and Footwear Design, Cabinet making or Joinery, as well as other related arts for approximately 240 students. In light of the above approach, the project also entails the design of the surrounding public spaces, as well as the design of the complex as a precinct within the urban context. The site is located on a prominent corner where Berea, Sunnyside and the Central Business District intersect; it is located on the Nelson Mandela corridor which is one of the main arterial routes that feed the city. There is a cluster of residential buildings that were retained from the 1950's when most of the Sunnyside residential buildings were demolished to accommodate high-rise residential developments. These houses have a unique character within the urban context, which is currently obscured because of their scale compared to the surrounding buildings. The placing of the new development on the corner of the site gives it the necessary historical prominence within the current urban context.

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) / 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

M. Tech. Architecture (Professional) / This dissertation responds to the current urban situation in Pretoria's Central Business District and entails the design of a Creative Hub through the rejuvenation of Pretoria's Burlington Arcade in the Church Square node. The Creative Hub will function as an incubator space for the creative industry, as well as potentially becoming a catalyst for the rejuvenation of the inner-city of Pretoria. Tshwane's inner-city's economic role has reduced dramatically compared to cities such as Johannesburg. Private and public sectors turn their investment interest away from the city towards the suburbs. A solution needs to be found to encourage investment and increase visitor confidence in the city's long term commitment to change. As with any urban regeneration project, it would require dedicated investment from the all sectors, over a lengthy period of time to initiate this change. The Creative Hub acknowledges urban renewal as the long term goal for the inner-city, but aims to evoke interest within the Church Square node to serve as a vehicle for change to occur through the introduction of "a people's place". Students, creative individuals and professionals, tourists, city dwellers, city goers as well as artisan traders are invited to meet within the space to promote Church Square as the historically rich, culturally textured environment it is.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture (Professional))--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / Probably one of the strongest common threads running through the multi-cultural society of South Africa is its passion and love for the public performing arts. The thesis therefore encompasses the design of a Performing Arts Centre in Pretoria. The intention is to use the building and surrounding urban space to promote performing arts activities, where they can be taught, refined and performed. The intent is to provide a building which will not only house the performing arts, but also engage the urban place as a public performance stage.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture: Professional)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / This dissertation encompasses the design of a low security correctional facility to function as a community re-entry centre in central Pretoria. In recent years, the Department of Correctional Services realised that alternative approaches and innovation is desperately required to deal with the issues of overcrowding, recidivism, known as the habitual return to a life of crime, as well as the spiralling cost of incarceration in South African prisons. This dissertation proposes a new detention building type in South Africa within which the education, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates can be dealt with holistically. In the proposed building, the designer will attempt to create awareness about the plight of offenders and their recovery from a life of crime while incorporating research with regards to sustainable architecture. It aspires to realising the opportunities that could arise from the human capital locked away in our correctional facilities if successful rehabilitation within an appropriate architectural environment could be implemented.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture: Professional)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2010. / This dissertation focus on repopulating the north-west section of Pretoria's city, known as Marabastad. Evoking densification together with urban regeneration through a mixed-use affordable housing development, it will also acknowledge the presence of the remaining Marabastad and support the relationship between formal and informal trading whilst contributing to the overall existing function of the area as being a major transportation interchange node. The site that has been chosen is on the northern edge of Bloed Street and lies between Jerusalem Street and the Steenhoven Spruit.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture (Professional Design)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2009. / The aim of this thesis is to design a music school [in Tshwane, South Africa] that will contribute to the development of our rich and vibrant music culture, which will furthermore assist in the promotion of the often unrecognized and struggling music industry as a major player in the South African economy. The building will contain practice and recording studios, together with classrooms for teaching music as well as performing spaces and administration facilities. The design attempts to introduce the building as a fully integrated element in the urban fabric and social infrastructure of the city so as to promote music and the performing arts to the broader public and help to redefine this precinct as the cultural heart of the inner city.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture: Professional)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2010. / The thesis comprises the design of a building to facilitate teaching and learning for mature learners, specifically in the creative professions, in the centre of Pretoria. The building offers facilities and spaces for visiting artists, tutors and mentors as well as for courses and workshops in continuous professional development. A limited number of short term living quarters are also provided for visiting artists. Because of the central urban location, the building will also include retail components as well as exhibition and multimedia spaces for the general public. The design involves a new development as well as the renovation and embracing of the Ons Eerste Volksbank building.

Thesis (MTech. degree in Architecture (Professional))--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / The Department of Justice has sanctioned regional courts to hear divorce cases which were traditionally only heard in the High Court. This address the accessibility to civil services. Four branch courts in Gauteng have been upgraded to full service courts, including Mamelodi. These law reforms will increase the case load for the already over-extended court in Mamelodi, and the dissertation will aim to resolve accommodation short comings and bring the facilities in alignment with full service court standards. As a society we all are affected by or benefit from the protection the law offers. The buildings that facilitate these legal processes are a particularly challenging type of civic complex. The aim is thus not to design a new type of complex merely replacing existing models for the sake of changing existing typologies into something more modern, but rather to offer a proposal motivated by sustainability and guided by the belief that a building which embodies social outcomes should be designed to be a regional response with sensitivity to current conditions.