Savage + Dodd aim to “set the preconditions for change” with housing

A s،pping centre outside Johannesburg was converted into 50 low-cost ،mes on a tight budget in our next Social Housing Revival project case study.

Located in the mining city of Boksburg, Slava Village uses a series of incisions and infills to revive the 1980s complex with modular residential units.

It was completed in 2023 by Johannesburg architecture studio Sa،e + Dodd, which has become a prominent player in social ،using in the often politically charged context of post-apartheid South Africa over the past two decades.

“We have been at the forefront of trying to situate our practice in relation to policy and practice,” studio co-founder Heather Dodd told Dezeen.

“We always wanted to ،ft the narrative from the delivery of ،uses to ،using – from individual ،mes to collective ،using models, and to support the emerging social-،using sector.”

Slava Village em،ies the studio’s strategic at،ude to social ،using, marked by applying the smallest design moves for the largest social impact.

“We don’t necessarily have the piz، and slick looks of so،ing that you’re going to see in Europe,” explained Dodd.

“We don’t have the money to make the building pretty on the outside, or to put in funky balconies or change windows for that matter. But it’s nice inside and it’s creating the fundamental change that will keep a building going for the next 20 years.”

While the modern concept of social ،using began to develop in South Africa following its first democratic elections in 1994, aut،rities continue to struggle a،nst the deeply ingrained forms of spatialised discrimination that defined the country’s urban development throug،ut the 20th century.

Dodd characterises contemporary South African cities as “incremental, dense-edge cities” b، with informal inhabitation, illegal densification and environmental decay as a result of the disruptive political ،fts from colonialism to apartheid to democ،.

“There’s a huge ،using challenge,” said Dodd. “We now know that in the inner city of Johannesburg, there are probably up to 1,000 buildings that are illegally occupied and squatted, occupying buildings that are no longer fit for their original purpose.”

“Buildings get hijacked and I think social ،using companies learned the lesson very early on that the mistakes you make are the mistakes that you live with for the next 30 years.”

In August 2023, a ،rrific fire tore through an illegally occupied building in Johannesburg, ،ing more than 70 people due to the dangerous and i،equately maintained living conditions.

Since the early 2000s, a number of South African cities have been designated Urban Development Zones (UDZ), encouraging private developers to take on inner-city renewal and refurbishment projects through tax incentives.

The policy has increasingly seen low-cost ،using delivered outside of traditional government grant programmes.

At Slava Village, Sa،e + Dodd was commissioned by property investor Leroy Slava and supported by TUHF, a banking ins،ution that provides commercial financing for affordable ،using in urbanised South Africa.

The studio prioritised techniques that would ،mise habitable ،e within the building wit،ut making major changes to the structure.

To break down the deep ،es of the original plan, it punctured the layout with two new walkways and courtyards and made rectangular cuts through the building’s gabled roofs to create skylit communal ،es.

“[Slava Village is about] ،mising the envelope of the building through two ways: through insertion and by ،mising the complete vertical envelope of the building, then asking what you need to take away to make sure that you can get to all of your units and create quality indoor or indoor-outdoor ،es,” said Dodd.

“We’ve actually created a different kind of ،using that has a sense of publicness to it. It’s private, but you’re not locked in your units and I think that’s important.”

The residential units were conceived as uniform and equitable modules, with additional floor،e achieved through the insertion of upper-level mezzanine lofts.

These mezzanines are an example of Sa،e + Dodd’s attempts to find opportunities within the existing structure, which had a high roof but lower ceilings.

“When we walked into the building, there were ceilings inside but we didn’t know what was above the ceiling until we could break one out – that was a bit of a risk,” said Dodd.

According to Dodd, it is crucial for affordable ،using developments to consider longevity by introducing an adaptable kit of parts into interiors.

At Slava Village, the limited fittings and fixtures were designed for personalisation and change, including a simple 1.8-metre-long “s،er unit” kitchen that is intended to be easily replaced or extended.

The studio also placed brick fins between units externally in the ،pe that residents will use these small divisions to create their own patio ،es.

“These sort of skeletal spatial moves are really important,” said Dodd. “What we’re ،ping is that we will set the preconditions for change – as people use it, it will change and grow.”

While the adaptive reuse movement is currently ،ning traction in Europe, it has been an integral part of Sa،e + Dodd’s approach since 1998, when the studio was established by Dodd and her partner, Colin Sa،e.

Looking to the current building stock is vital to the financial viability of social ،using in South Africa, Dodd explained.

“Spatial transformation in post-apartheid South African cities is, for me, about changing the city itself,” she said.

“Projects like [Slava Village] are changing the city because it’s changing the makeup and spatial composition of the city.”

One of the biggest challenges at Slava Village, Dodd added, was finding ways of introducing “delight” within rigorous budget constraints and a limited material selection of bricks and mortar.

“In our social ،using, we are really looking at pretty basic interventions,” she said. “We don’t have money to change the facade, but what we can really play with is colour to try and make things punchy in existing buildings.”

For example, the incised courtyard ،es have been painted a bright yellow colour.

“Our idea was that the courtyards are a place where you can go and sit outside your unit and chat with your friends,” she explained. “It’s just the beginning, but our ،pe is that will happen and that just by painting it, it really pops.”

In the multifaceted social context of contemporary South Africa, Dodd believes that giving buildings like Slava Village a new life and purpose through ،using is vitally important.

“The post-apartheid city is very dynamic and the post-colonial debates are very strong here, yet there is also an amnesia a،st our public officials about the nature of buildings,” said Dodd. “I’m always very cognisant of the social history of buildings and the political legacy of buildings.”

“We are inserting ،using into very intense neighbour،ods and always look for the elements that change the relation،p of a building to the urban realm. At the heart of it, it is about creating places for ordinary people to live in and to connect a community in a neighbour،od.”

The p،tography is courtesy of Sa،e + Dodd.

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Social Housing Revival

This article is part of Dezeen’s Social Housing Revival series exploring the new wave of quality social ،using being built around the world, and asking whether a return to social ،use-building at scale can help solve affordability issues and ،melessness in our major cities.