Umhlanga College â€" a state-of-the-art learning facility that is taking shape amongst the green sugar cane fields of Umhlanga - is a perfect example of a blend of old and new and testament to the fact that Corobrik products are timeless.

The school, which opened its doors in 2003, started out as an initiative of Durban Girls’ College with a view to providing a primary school facility for future pupils. However, as the school began to flourish and grew rapidly, parents from the surrounding suburbs asked that further facilities be added to accommodate older children, extending learners stays at the school. It became an independent college.

Headmaster Greg Brooks says that, over the years, Umhlanga College has grown with its learners. Today, the school has over 600 pupils spread across its play group, pre-school, junior primary and senior primary sections and the high school which opened its doors at the beginning of the 2013 school year and currently caters for grades 8 and 9.

Set on what was formerly Burnside Estate on the Umhlanga Ridge, the School’s grounds are nestled amongst magnificent indigenous trees and surrounded by sugar cane.

Architect Trish Emmett from Emmett Emmett Architects, who has been associated with the college since the outset, says that the existing building on the property was the cane cutters’ single quarters. Transforming this historic building into a modern learning facility has been an exciting challenge.

The original face brick building with its distinctive brick columns set the tone and the original old dining hall with its wrap around verandahs was linked with new buildings that perfectly complemented them.

The brickwork was dictated by builders of old and the modern-day architect’s job was to select a product that matched as closely as possible. Corobrik’s Firelight Satin was the perfect choice together with Corobrik’s Imperial non face bricks which formed the basis for the contrasting plastered sections of the buildings.

Corobrik’s director of sales, Allin Dangers, said that Firelight Satin had both practical and aesthetic qualities that make it a good match. “Durable face bricks possess a high degree of size, shape uniformity and the rich terracotta colour of the chosen face bricks have worked well with the earth tones and natural surrounds. It is a feature of clay brick that it harmonises with all environments, fauna and flora and in this instance has taken the historic building’s ambience forward into the present day built environment in a seamless way.”

From the outset, says Emmett, sustainable building methods and design were priorities, again making environmentally friendly clay brick a natural fit.

She explains that, as the school outgrew its available space and evolved to include more grades, it moved up the hill necessitating the addition of more classrooms as well as innovative spaces to encourage extra curricular activities.

Throughout, she says, there has been a master plan for building which centred on the use of clay brick. The only changes have been made to roofs as the original clay tiles were difficult to source as they are no longer made and are extremely expensive. Instead, she used double pitched roofs that are designed to optimize light as do large well positioned windows which have light shelves and grids to bounce light into the classrooms.

Once the main block which includes the senior primary section of the school was completed in 2007, Umhlanga College embarked on the construction of a bespoke multi-purpose hall. The design spec indicated that it had to blend with the existing buildings and also meld with distinctive features such as the openâ€"air amphitheatre and a 6m wide paved street on to which the media and audio visual centre, science laboratory, cutting edge IT centre, design and technology centre and music, art and drama rooms open out.

The concept, according to Emmett, was to create a paved street through the centre of the senior primary school that was significantly wider than a conventional corridor and could act as an interactive zone. The street itself has been used as a hall as well as a craft market to encourage entrepreneurship.

The iconic hall that looks back towards the amphitheatre and out over the school sports fields. It includes a substantial stage, a sprung floor, practice rooms for music and ballet and highly sophisticated acoustics which have resulted in the incorporation of distinctive fins (rather than unsuitable parallel walls) into the design.

Brooks says that they are very proud of the new hall. When it comes to both this and the rest of the school, he points out that, apart from obvious practical characteristics such as being functional and hard wearing, face brick is aesthetically pleasing, forming the basis for the more rustic design of the school and lending interesting texture whilst also complementing the contemporary and clean lines.  

He says this feel, as well as the overall design ethos, will be replicated and even expanded as the high school takes shape. At this point, the high school is just 40 percent complete. Construction of the second phase of the high school is expected to begin in 2015 with the completed facility expected to be fully functional by 2017 when the current learners reach matric.

The current high school comprises five classrooms as well as an art room, media centre and the first phase administration block. When completed, says Emmett, Umhlanga College will boast 38 classrooms and specialty rooms, further administration facilities, a sick bay and a lecture theatre.

It will also have Umhlanga College’s signature paved street as a focal point. This time round, it is expected to be 15m wide. Rather than a long flat promenade, Brooks believes this will be an even more interactive area, a creative space and break time hang out where learners will be encouraged to hang banners and art works. 

Compiled and distributed on behalf of Corobrik (Pty) Ltd
For more information, please contact Allin Dangers on 031 560 3111