Feature:
Architects of Justice
reveal that they are dull unimaginative “prisons for
books” in which the love for reading cannot possibly
be fostered. To paraphrase the Mal Foundation; the
SEED is a glowing tribute to contemporary container
design where fertile young minds can get a colourful
dynamic blast of creativity to fuel their imaginations.
Instead of the usual dour grey boxed-in dross that gets
handed down. It is the Architects Of Justice’ opinion
that although the SEED is somewhat more expensive
than other local prefabricated libraries, buildings like
it can be a justified investment in our country as we
need to move past trying to fix our problems of literacy
with quick, cheap solutions which become prisons for
information and rather create places and buildings that
are depositories of knowledge that stimulate learning
and growth.
highlight that the building is in reality constructed
primarily from recycled shipping containers.
Describe the look and feel of the SEED
The SEED library represents the architects’ key
concepts of a library in its most basic form and is a
working example of an exciting stimulating place, that
not only houses knowledge, but also through the use
of colour, shape, light, the outdoor and imaginative and
inventive space, gives the user an inspiring experience
when accessing it.
The design of the SEED
The SEED is made up of two stacked shipping
containers. The containers are not stacked directly
on top of one another but rather at ninety degrees
creating a cross when viewed from above. The ground
What materials were used to build the SEED?
floor container houses the book library and the first
• Two retired shipping containers with windows and
floor container houses spaces for group work and
doors cut into the container envelope.
individual study. On the roof of the ground floor
• Steel elements which were added to the containers.
container there is an outdoor reading deck which is
These steel elements are the reveals of the windows
accessed from the first floor container. There is also a
and doors, the balustrading on the first floor as well as deck on the ground floor which doubles up as a stage
steel to reinforce the building and to facilitate the fixing for school assemblies.
of the internal and external cladding.
• Two additional prefabricated steel structures support The following decisions were made by the architects
and provide access to the first floor.
when choosing the position of the SEED on the selected
• The interior is insulated and clad with MDF board
site:
and finished off with carpeting on floors, walls and
1. The building was placed so that should funding be
ceilings.
made available for the originally designed permanent
• The ceilings are trimmed with low energy LED strip
library to be built, the SEED would not have to be
lighting for evening use.
removed until the permanent library is finished.
• The ground floor container is clad with Eva Last
2. The building was positioned adjacent to, and with
outdoor recycled timber composite decking and
access off the main school corridor, which is the
painted Nu-Tec fibre-cement boarding.