The project was chosen in line with the Youth Day theme 2022, Forging Resilience for a Sustainable Future, and enables the students of Dakalo to receive future educational and learnership opportunities onsite.
Dakalo Student Court- Before
Dakalo Student Court currently houses 165 students from universities and colleges across the City of Johannesburg. MetroWired identified three areas (study room, basement and TV room) with remarkable potential to be something more through the addition of technology and elements of comfort to aid the learning journeys of students. As students living away from home and family, their recreational area was equipped with basic comfort features to create an “at home” feeling. With its new vivid wall colour, area rug, coffee table, air conditioning unit, feature ceiling and two arcade game units (equipped with 500 games) students now have a vibrant new entertainment area with new choices.
The study room originally accommodated 8 students with its functional wooden desks and plastic chairs and a cold draft that offered little comfort to students during winter. The room was converted into a temperature controlled environment, and can accommodate 20 students in both private and collaborative workstations with 20 work benches created, ergonomic chairs, a lowered ceiling and an air conditioner installed.
The vision that MetroWired saw for the below ground-level open space (basement) was for South Africa’s future leaders to easier embrace the new hybrid way of work before they enter the corporate world. The area was divided into two spaces, the first of which was converted into a computer lab, allowing students to connect their laptops to secondary screens for creative projects or work that requires multiple open applications. The computer lab allows students to choose technology to aid their learning journey, and seamlessly enter the working world, having experienced a digital workstation.
Dakalo Student Court- After
The second area was converted into a casual, collaborative space with bean bags and a grass turf. A projector and white wall was installed to allow streaming for online classes, zoom meetings, interviews, team projects and personal needs such as attending online church.
MetroWired’s facilities upgrade achieved its goal to provide basic technology functionalities that support future learning and skills development initiatives, and create an adequate learning environment for Johannesburg students.
