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UFS Modular Lecture Building gets national recognition

11 May 2023 | Story Samkelo Fetile | Photo iFlair Photography

The University of the Free State’s (UFS) Modular Lecture Building on its Bloemfontein Campus recently received a National Merit Award from the South African Institute of Architects (SAIA). The awards were announced at the 2021/2022 Corobrik SAIA Awards of Merit and Awards for Excellence ceremony in Johannesburg.

The multi-functional Modular Lecture Building, considered a hub for innovative learning, was designed by Roodt Architects in partnership with GXY Architects.

The adjudication panel received a total of 42 architectural projects from around the country, including infrastructure developments in the public and private sector. The SAIA Awards programme is structured over a two-year period and is conducted in two stages. In stage one regional awards for architecture are presented by the nine regional institutes affiliated to SAIA. In stage two the winning regional projects that are consequently entered into the national awards receive either a Commendation, an Award of Merit, and/or an Award for Excellence, which recognises exceptional achievement in the field of architecture.

In their citation the adjudicators noted that the Modular Lecture Building sets a benchmark for rational planning and technical efficiency and helps complete the campus urban framework through its placing and material choices.

Multi-functional spaces for students

Nico Janse van Rensburg, Senior Director at UFS University Estates, said the recognition is a testament to the UFS’s aspirations to renew, rejuvenate, regenerate, and revisit facilities and infrastructure.

“This award proves that excellence can be achieved with a reasonable set budget,” Janse van Rensburg said. “Energy efficiency and green building principles can be achieved by careful planning and teamwork.”

The Modular Lecture Building offers a variety of much-needed flexible teaching and learning spaces. “I have been using the facilities in this building for two years now, and I can say the building is much more spacious and conducive to studying,” said Hymne Spies, a third-year BSc student majoring in biochemistry and genetics. “The many plugs make it more efficient for studying, as one can plug in his or her laptop. There is also a nice computer lab for us to make use of.”

The UFS is proud that the construction of this facility forms part of a bigger endeavour – to create a cohesive campus identity that improves core business and to further extend its innovation and excellence as per its Vision 130.

Take a tour of the new Modular Lecturing Space and Assessment Centre Building:

News Archive

Odeion String Quartet performs in Tanzania and Austria

2016-11-18

The Odeion String Quartet will build
international relationships when
it visits Tanzania and Austria.
Photo: Supplied

To be an ambassador for the University of the Free State (UFS) is a goal of the Odeion String Quartet (OSQ) and that is exactly what it will do through international visits to Tanzania and Austria. The OSQ, the only residential university quartet in South Africa, will play concerts abroad, share knowledge and build relationships.

It visits Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 17 to 20 November 2016 and Austria from 29 November to 4 December 2016. The quartet, which constitutes string lecturers at the Odeion School of Music, consists of Samson Diamond, Sharon de Kock, Jeanne-Louise Moolman and Prof Anmari van der Westhuizen Joubert.

A humbling experience
The OSQ was invited by Hekima Raymond, founder and conductor of the Dar Choral Society, to Tanzania to assist the symphony orchestra. Raymond is a self-taught pianist and conductor and was nominated for a BBC Outlook Inspirations award in 2016.

The quartet will lead the string sections of the orchestra, consisting of members from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, performing Beethoven’s fifth symphony and Verdi’s Requiem.

According to Diamond it is a humbling experience, an opportunity to extend their services and help establish the Dar Choral Society. “You are part of something really special, because the circumstances are remote if you compare it to what we have here.”

He means it is important to have a real African footprint and being involved there can later serve as a platform for UFS recruitment.

“You are part of something really special,
because the circumstances are remote if
you compare it to what we have here.”

South African and Austrian collaboration
According to Prof Van der Westhuizen Joubert it is an honour to play in Austria, as Europe is a centre for classical music. The OSQ will play concerts at the Alte Schmiede, Vienna, and the University of Salzburg.

The concert on 4 December 2016 at the University of Salzburg’s Mozarteum is a highlight because the UFS will have the opportunity to build relationships with the famous music school.

Prof Van der Westhuizen Joubert said it would be a South African/Austrian collaboration. “We will bring them South African works (Mokale Koapeng, AJ Feder, Arnold van Wyk and Peter-Louis van Dijk) and will be playing Austrian contemporary string quartets.”

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