Hillbrow Counselling Centre / Local Studio

Architects: Local Studio
Area: 100 m²
Year: 2017
Photographs: Dave Southwood
Manufacturers: Duroplastic
Lead Architects: Thomas Chapman, Samantha Trask
Engineering: The Structural Workshop
Design Team: Thomas Chapman, Samantha Trask, Njabulo Phekani
Clients: Outreach Foundation NGO
Build Period: 6 months
Construction Budget: USD82,620
City: Johannesburg
Country: South Africa

Hillbrow Counselling Centre, by Local Studio, centralizes the Outreach Foundation’s trauma counselling services in Hillbrow, including support for migrants and refugees. The new facility features consultation rooms, a meeting room, and workspaces, and connects to the Boitumelo Project via a skybridge made from a recycled shipping container. Designed as a landmark, the building uses mottled polycarbonate facades to ensure privacy, animating with colors and silhouettes while keeping occupants’ identities hidden.

Hillbrow counselling centre / local studio

Before this project began, the Outreach Foundation offered impactful counseling services to trauma victims in Hillbrow, a neighborhood plagued by crime and violence. In recent years, the center’s counselors received additional training to address the unique trauma experienced by migrants and refugees.

Previously scattered around the site, the counseling facilities are now consolidated into one center, which includes consultation rooms, a meeting room, and workspaces. The building also features a skybridge made from a recycled shipping container, linking the center to an existing building that houses the Boitumelo Project, an NGO dedicated to empowering women through sewing and embroidery.

This new-build structure aligns with previous projects for the client and aims to serve as a striking landmark in the area. A key challenge was ensuring privacy for individuals undergoing counseling, who may feel uncomfortable in a transparent space. The use of mottled polycarbonate on the facade addresses this by allowing the facade to animate with changing colors and interior silhouettes, without revealing the faces of those inside.