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Afrikaans Hoërskool - High School
Germiston, Gauteng
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Click to view large map Coordinates: | This school, which stands on high ground above ParkHill Gardens, faces north-east and overlooks Germiston Township. The school provides an excellent example of modern ideas in architectural design, having been planned to the form of an inverted "U" to provide an open quadrangle, which has been laid out with lawns and flower beds. It consists of a ground and upper floor, with an open corridor to each floor on the north-east elevation and extending the full length of the building. Accommodation. The accommodation provided, which is adequate to meet immediate requirements, consists of a large Assembly Hall, two Laboratories, Manual Training Centre, Domestic Science Centre, Art Room, Library, 14 Classrooms, Prefects' Rooms, Sick Rooms with attached toilets, Administration and Staff Rooms, Toilets, Showers, Dressing Rooms and Cycle Sheds for both sexes. A feature of this construction is the large storage space which is most essential in any high school. Although the lay-out provides a self-contained unit, provision has been made for the future extension of classrooms and for the addition of a laboratory. Features of Plan. The Main Entrance, which is approached from the main thoroughfare, leads to the Entrance Hall which serves also as a Crush Hall to the Assembly Room. This Assembly Hall is so located in relation to the main building that it can be used in conjunction with the school or isolated from the school and used separately. It contains a balconette for film projection and a large stage complete with side-wings. A Store Room situated behind the stage can be used as a Green Room. Ample storage space is also available under the Green Room and stage. Adjoining the Laboratory, on the first floor, is a conservatory for botany work and a dark room for photographic work in addition to the usual Prep. and Store Rooms. The Manual Training Centre is incorporated in the wing remote from the rooms used for study. Similarly, the rooms used for instruction in domestic science are provided in the opposite wing. Toilets and dressing rooms for the pupils are placed in convenient relationship to the playing fields. In addition to the large Common Room for the Staff, there is a Rest and Retiring Room for female staff. There are also sick rooms for medical examination which can also be used as rest rooms by sick pupils. Ground Floor. The Main Entrance, which is situated at the north end of the building, leads into a large Entrance Hall which pro-vides direct access to an open corridor approach to the class-rooms and also to a corridor leading to the rooms for the use of the principal, the secretary, boys' sick room, girl prefects and girls' sick rooms, book store and stock room. The entrance for girls is located at the north-east end of this corridor to provide access to the classrooms and to the toilet, cloak rooms, cycle store and Domestic Science Centre. At the south-east end the open corridor provides access to a laboratory and also to the prefects' room, class room, lavatory, cycle store and Manual Training Centre. A staircase hall at the south-east extremity of the open corridor provides for the free circulation of traffic between the ground floor and upper floor. Upper Floor. This floor, which generally conforms to the layout for the ground floor, incorporates 7 classrooms (Nos. 8 to 14), and also the Art Room and Laboratory No. 2, which are situated at the south-east end of the building. At the north-west end, the accommodation includes a Common Room -for the use of the Staff, ladies' toilet, a kitchen, a toilet for male staff and a Library. Construction and Finish. In deciding the details of construction and finish, careful consideration has been given to the question of maintenance. External finish to the building is in face brick, and for reasons of economy a corrugated iron roof is provided, although it was originally intended to finish the roof with slate. Internally, the classrooms have Cullamix dadoes, with the plaster and ceilings finished in pastel shades of oil-bound distemper, providing a different colour scheme in the various rooms. The remainder of the interior, with the exception of the Assembly Hall and Domestic Science Centre, has face brick dadoes with walls and ceilings finished in the manner adopted for the classrooms. The Domestic Science Centre, including all fittings, has been painted in two shades of peach colour, but the tables, which are in hard wood, have been French-polished. The lower part of the walls in the Assembly Hall has been covered with Cullamix, and the upper part sprayed with Limpet asbestos. The adoption of this finish to the walls, coupled with the shape of the Hall, has provided this room with excellent acoustic properties. Heating and Ventilation. A low pressure type of hot water circulation system complete with radiators is installed for heating the major portion of the school. The larger rooms, such as Laboratories, Art Room, etc., are fitted with unit heaters. On account of the aspect to the Manual Training and Domestic Science Centres, heating is not considered to be necessary. Ventilation of the Assembly Hall is improved by the provision of ceiling vents, which communicate with a trunk main connected to an exhaust fan situated on the stage roof. Fittings. All departments of the school are provided with the usual fittings of approved type for a high school. "Kliprax" fittings have been used to accommodate all shelving in the stock room and book store to provide flexibility. The architects responsible for the design are Messrs. Fyvie and Eddy; Quantity Surveyors, Messrs. Caplan and Partners; and the Contractors Messrs. A. S. Dunstan (Pty.), Ltd. This school was completed in the year 1947 and was officially opened by General J. J. Pienaar in April, 1948. (PWSA October 1948 Vol IX No 59:24-30). |
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