Comment of the Holcim Awards 2005 Jury for Africa Middle East
This ambitious project is distinguished by its proposal for a park that also serves as a community resource centre facilitating a variety of local economic development initiatives, cultural revitalization, as well as the conservation of natural bio-diversity.

Highly convincing are the design philosophy and process which follow a logic of “systems-thinking” and demonstrate an acute awareness of the host context at socio-cultural and economic levels.

The premise of environmental as well as ecological conservation as the foundation of the proposed economic and cultural activities has been effectively substantiated in the design of the facility in terms of the buildings and the landscape. A significant contribution of the project will be in generating economic improvement for the region, which at the same time promises to stimulate a greater awareness of the benefit of community-driven initiatives such as this one across a larger audience.

A convincing feasibility study guided the design to ensure viability and a flexible model allowing future replacement of less fruitful enterprises by more successful ones.

The park and buildings are skillfully integrated to produce a seamlessly integrated environment, one that enhances and puts to use the untapped capacities of the existing site.