What can you do with 1 700 tyres large car tyres, 6 000 ecobricks, upcycled polystyrene, 60 cubes of cob, 240 cubes of crushed builders rubble, glass bottles, lime internal plasters, large and small gum poles, recycled doors and windows, and lots?
Build a school. That is what the Natural Building Collective and other partners did with Ulwazi Preschool in Delft.
The project goes back almost five years when Patiswa Bangani, principal of Ulwazi, met Peter McIntosh, founder of the Natural Building Collective, a collaborative project dedicated to educating individuals and organisations about sustainable building’s potential.
“I started the school in 1998 at my house after seeing a need in the community. Parents were going to work and children were left unattended,” says Bangani.
Eventually Bangani got hold of a piece of land.
“Classes were held in containers and some prefabricated buildings. Things became difficult when it rained, because the containers were leaking. We then had to bundle together and it was not good for the children,” says Bangani.
When she met McIntosh she told him about her problem. McIntosh and his team visited the school a couple of times before deciding to help them.
Building was supposed to start in 2019, but then Covid 19 hit. Eventually in 2020 building plans were completed and building commenced.
McIntosh says in a post on his Facebook page that building the school fills him with immense pride.
“There is still the renovation of the old portion of the school to be done and we need to get the kids over to the new section to complete that. This project was five years in the making and seeing it now makes the admittedly tough process seem completely worth it. It’s not just about the building process, the skills developed over the years, but the funders and lots of people involved. It took a team of fantastic folk and we have lots to look forward to moving onto the next project in Heideveld, Cape Town,” says McIntosh.
Bangani says now that the school is finished they can accommodate over 100 children more.
“I never thought you can build a school with bottles and tyres. It is beautiful,” an elated Bangani says.
