 Contact Artefacts | MenuHomeUpfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon | University of Fort Hare, Staff Amenities Building - Staff Centre Michael John DOVEY: Project Architect Harry M RUSSELL: Contractor |  | ||||||
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Click to view map Coordinates: | The master plan of the University of Fort Hare (UFH) Campus was originally based on a rectilinear grid with a large rectangular central piazza (now Freedom Square) with the north-eastern end framed by the facades of three fine neo-classical style buildings - Stewart Hall (1919), Livingstone Hall (1936) and Henderson Hall (1942). A large structured outdoor space of pleasing proportions was thereby created, ultimately bookended at the much lower, south-western end by the utilitarian Administration Building (circa 1960). In the early 1980's, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof J. A. Lamprecht saw the need to create more 'human scaled spaces' between the buildings on the campus - spaces with soul that would inspire - and the University duly embarked on a substantial program of landscaping and paving. This was to transform the entire campus, including the main piazza and the major east-west pedestrian walkway crossing the piazza near the southern end. Most of the University academics and staff then lived in Hogsback, Fort Beaufort and some even in King William's Town - rather than in Alice or on campus. At the time there was also no pleasant facility on the campus at which academics and staff could have a coffee, a meal or meet. The new Staff Amenities Building was intended to redress this. The main piazza had a central, connective nature and it was the architect's intention with the Staff Amenities Building to both reinforce and contribute energy to the open space. Of particular architectural interest was that the building plan was rotated 10 degrees off the existing rectilinear grid, so that it addressed the piazza in a more informal way. From any approach to the building it would be seen 'in the round’ rather than as a two dimensional façade to the piazza. The building had a small scale, square plan with a modulated giant-order colonnade forming verandahs of differing dimensions on all four sides, to suit the functions of the spaces within. The square plan was organised around a central, square double-volume stairwell, flooded with natural light from generous clear-storey windows at roof level. The building was capped with a simple mono pitch roof falling in four separate hipped planes - from the higher central open clearstory space down to the lower external perimeter - and was roofed with clay Marseilles tiles. A striking architectural feature was the construction of an extended free-standing colonnade which was aligned parallel to the building at the northern end and symbolically defines the southern end of the piazza. The scale of the colonnade picked up the rhythm, scale and order of the building's colonnade and much improved the southern aspect of the square. The Staff Amenities Building was clearly organised with a specific hierarchy. Senior staff used the upper level which was planned as a venue for cocktail parties, promotional activities and areas in which visiting ‘dignitaries’ could be entertained. The planning at the upper level also allowed the creation of break-away rooms for meetings and seminars. The junior staff were intended to use the lower level with provision for darts, table tennis and general staff recreation. The eating spaces were set out much like a restaurant with tables set and ready to receive diners. The outdoor space to the west of the Staff Amenities Building was formed into a partial ‘amphitheatre’, both to accommodate the contours and to create a structured external space which staff and/or students could use. The colonnaded front of the building was used to radiate grid lines into the paving in this area. The Staff Amenities building was constructed by H M Russell (Pty) Ltd, a long established building contractor of East London. In the closing stages of the building contract, the Staff Amenities building was set on fire by protesting students and it immediately became a repair project - before it had even reached final completion! The SAIA conferred an Award of Merit on the building in 1985, as an outstanding example of architecture. The citation acknowledged "the way in which the building recognises and enhances the existing major space and complex". During an inspection on site in 2022, it was noted that the Staff Amenities Building had been extensively vandalised - presumably in protest action by UFH students. Major fire damage was noted at ground floor and the majority of windows were boarded up. Base information on original planning provided by John Dovey, edited, extended and submitted by William Martinson, May 2022. |
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