The Lonjedzani, one of the Mthunzi Centre’s project, is a daytime center for underage girls that carries out school activities and cultural initiatives.

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The idea of a multifunctional space for the Lonjedzani’s girls arises from the need to provide the Center with a suitable structure for the study hours and, at the same time, to carry out other educational and leisure activities.

The whole design is about inside and outside spatial continuity expressed through the structure shape and the materials chosen in according with the context.

A sheet metal rests on a modular lightweight skeleton made of wood to cover, as roof, the internal space. Because of the modularity of the structure, the covered space is really flexible and it is always possible to extend it by adding more modules. Just below the roofing, a single room is enclosed by a burnt mud bricks wall that doesn’t reach the ceiling allowing a better natural ventila- tion. A vertical cut in the brick masonry, underli- ned and mended by a wooden brise soleil fully opening, provides the entrance to the room letting the space flowing from the inside to the outside and vice-versa.

A very important aspect of the project is that it is almost completely buildable by self-construction (excluding foundation) giving the chance to the community to take active part in the process as well as in the usage of the space.

The wooden structure and the roof can be put together and assembled as a dry construction system on the spot, while the masonry can be built in the traditional way with bricks made on the spot as well, without requiring a high qualified man- power.