Portable crèche offers hope in Soweto on Sea

In Soweto on Sea, Gqeberha, where children often play indoors because the streets are unsafe, a new kind of crèche is about to arrive — one that can be folded up, moved and rebuilt wherever it’s needed most. Designed and built by Nelson Mandela University architecture students, the portable early learning centre is part innovation and part lifeline, offering light, air and dignity to some of South Africa’s youngest learners.

Since 2019, Studio Make — a student design-build initiative at Nelson Mandela University led by architecture lecturer John Andrews — has been reshaping how communities imagine spaces where the youngest members of communities can learn.

Working together with local communities and stakeholders, members of the initiative have designed and constructed early childhood development centres that provide a space for learning and create environments where early childhood education can thrive.

This week, Studio Make unveiled its latest project: a portable, adaptable, scalable, and pre-manufactured crèche. Completed in mid-2025 with the help of 15 inspired volunteer architecture students, the structure represents innovation and compassion in action.

The crèche is purpose-built for some of South Africa’s most challenging informal settlements.

It is more than a shelter; it is a vision of what is possible when design meets ingenuity. With a floating roof engineered to harvest light, and water that feeds into a tank, timber accents and splashes of colour to soften its edges, the crèche embodies architectural warmth in contexts too often defined by harshness. Its modular design allows for quick assembly and easy relocation, answering the urgent need for adaptable early learning spaces.

The 6m crèche is kitted out with wooden tables, also manufactured by Studio Make volunteers, with a reading nook, and it opens to allow for outdoor play and has a wash-up area.

The brief was restrictive in that the project was for an informal settlement and had to be pre-manufactured and scalable.

With a limited budget of R270,000, Andrews explained, “Restrictions are important in design because that’s where the ingenuity really happens. By putting restrictions on, we put ourselves in a space for real invention.”

That spirit of ingenuity has driven every detail — from the brackets cut and welded by hand, to the modular panels designed for adaptability.

Andrews added, “And in this project, it was very much about the brackets. But I think what I learned is that if you get on top of a technology, it’s completely scalable. Whether you’re laser cutting and bending something to make yourself a small crèche or whether you're laser cutting something to produce massive columns at an airport building, the principle remains the same.”

Transformative journey

For the students, the journey has been as transformative as the final product.

“Nothing teaches you more than practice and doing — especially when things go wrong,” said fourth-year architecture student Jordan Mwenda.

“The confidence of trying something, failing, and fixing it — that’s something you can’t take for granted. It is a life-changing experience.”

Studio Make has always been about more than construction — it’s also about collaboration. Andrews described the ethos: “Instead of 40 students doing individual projects, what if we put all our energy into one? These crèches emerge from that kind of thinking.”

The pre-manufactured structure is destined for Khulisa Daycare Centre in Soweto on Sea, where it will be relocated next Tuesday. There, it will become more than just a building: a landmark of hope, orientation and stability for families navigating daily uncertainty.

In a place where children are often confined indoors because of unsafe play areas, the crèche will offer light, air and dignity.

Andrews added, “The idea really is that we produce a little oasis where kids can play outside, learn with dignity with all the amenities.”

Khulisa Daycare Centre owner Nompumelelo Thys said, “With this donation, I can help more children in the community. I cannot wait to see the children’s faces when the building arrives.”

Andrews is leading the way for his students and the community. Third-year student Jonathan Penrith said at the unveiling, “We are serving the needs of the community. Imagine if every university did this.”

As South Africa grapples with a shortage of safe, stimulating spaces for early learning, initiatives like Studio Make remind us that solutions are possible, and that sometimes, the greatest transformations start with students, designs and a belief in better futures. DM