2,500 wine bottles were used to build a striking wall at a creche in Joe Slovo by architect Kevin Kimwelle who specialises in recycled buildings!
Port Elizabeth, South Africa – Kevin Kimwelle has a talent for spotting beauty in discarded. Born and raised in Kenya, he ventured to South Africa to further his studies in architecture. Coming from a poor African community, he witness incredible ingenuity by people who used everything they had to get by.
He has witnessed pure waste while living in South Africa. He decided to use his skills and abundant recyclables to create beautiful spaces in more impoverished communities. Pushing the green agenda, he collected 2,500 wine bottles from the wealthy areas in Port Elizabeth and repurposed them to build a school in the Joe Slovo township.
In 2017, the building was listed as one of the most beautiful objects in South Africa by the Cape Town Design Indaba. The project was completed, and the community thankful for being given a beautiful space.
It all started when the creche owner had run out of space. She needed a bigger space to care for the children and a safer space for them to thrive. When Kevin got involved, the entire project came to life.
His work was recently celebrated by The Guardian as part of their South African Cities Week. The week is used to highlight some of the progress made in the last 25 years since Apartheid.
Kevin has changed the face of township architecture for the better, proving that a little ingenuity can lead to beautiful buildings. Take a look at the award he received in 2017 from the Design Indaba.
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