Usually representing spirits, ancestors or the primordial couple, these figures were placed in shrines and treated with great respect. Through a wide range of style, scale, belief and function the couples depicted share a timeless, serene equality necessary to the continuity of their societies.

Biovac Centre Phase 1 / Studio Mas

Architects: Studio Mas
Location: Ndabeni, Cape Town South Africa
Project Year: 2007
Photographer: Studio Mas
Website: www.studiomas.com

- 30 April 2015
- Edwin Seda
Industrial Centres , Research Centres , Urban Renewal , Contemporary , Contemporary African Directory ,

Its a play of solids and voids, of thematic light intonations and a subdued aura of space within the laboratory commissioned by Biovac and implemented by studio mas. The way the project has been incredibly put together was so simple, the final outlook simply blows the mind.

From the Project Architects:
The Biovac vaccine laboratory in Ndabeni, Cape Town, is a place of serious science, but also of innovation and invention. The brief calls for a lab block with a small office component taking advantage of views west. The clinical QC laboratory has to comply with stringent international standards to accredit Biovac the right to manufacture and test Vaccines in SA

The building, with its central double volume, mediates between the admin wing and the lab, tying disparate working groups together. The simple layout of laboratory and offices with sun control skin is elevated to allow for a future lab. Windows are cut into the laboratory wherever required.

The sunscreens are incredibly simply put together, being glued to a rudimentary galvanized steel frame using double-sided tape. This inventiveness in the face of economy and budgets is also evident in red perspex pendant lights.

The Biovac centre has been credited as prescient of the infection that is coming in South African architecture offering opportunity for playful invention and creativity.

- © Biovac Centre Phase 1 Studio Mas 002
- © Biovac Centre Phase 1 Studio Mas 001
- © 6Biovac Centre Phase 1 Studio Mas 005
- © 7Biovac Centre Phase 1 Studio Mas 005
- © Biovac Centre Phase 1 Studio Mas 003
- © Biovac Centre Phase 1 Studio Mas 004
- © Biovac Centre Phase 1 Studio Mas 005
- © Biovac Centre Phase 1 Studio Mas 008
- © Biovac Centre Phase 1 Studio Mas 009
- © Biovac Centre Phase 1 Studio Mas 010

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

If you want your own avatar and keep track of your discussions with the community, sign up to archiDATUM >>

SELECTED WORKS

- ArchiDATUM Dates: Nikos Salingaros On A Sustainable Developmental Model
- 13 Apr 2015
A sustainable society builds innovation out of its own heritage and traditions, local evolved solutions and practices, etc. It does not t...
- Seth Mokitini Methodist Seminary / Boogertman + Partners
- 15 Jul 2015
Religious architecture has and will always be on of the closets way to deity, the tenets manifest themeselves in all aspects godly and th...
- Centre for Training and Qualification in Marrakech Crafts / Abdelhakim Guilmi
- 07 Jul 2016
Centre for Training and Qualification in Marrakech Crafts Crafts by Abdelhakim Guilmi is a giant that holds on its shoulders the little k...

CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN DIRECTORY

- Making Africa A Continent of Contemporary Design
- 25 Apr 2015
From March 2015, a major exhibition by the Vitra Design Museum sheds new light on contemporary African design. Showcasing the work of ove...
- Significant Moments that Changed the African Architecture Landscape In 2015
- 05 Jan 2016
In Africa, the past 12 months has seen significant advancement in the architectural landscape, culture and identity of the continent: 201...
- BDO_22 Wellington Road / Paragon Architects
- 01 Apr 2016
The BDO building lives to an agenda of a street relationship, something not seen much in South African commercial work. The restaurant pa...