Supervisor: Dr. Dario Schoulund
Site: Marshalltown, Johannesburg
Programme: Aluminium Foundry
Key words: Circular Economy, Foundry Design, Urban Regeneration, Informal Recyclers, Sustainable Industrial Architecture
Abstract
The project seeks to rehabilitate the foundry buildings in City of Johannesburg (CoJ), Marshalltown, and reinsert them into urban life through sustainable construction and design. It envisions a multi-use foundry that integrates casting activities and waste management systems, community spaces and green spaces within a circular economy framework. Some activities include collecting scrap, material separation, low-carbon casting, training spaces, recycling facilities, and hawking stalls.
Industrialised Marshalltown has seen socio-economic and environmental decline. There are foundries alongside high-density residential and commercial use, leading to pollution, abandonment, and dispersed communities. The project addresses these problems by reusing old industrial space in a way that makes it inclusive, productive spaces that foster resource efficiency and urban resilience.
Key clients are the CoJ Metropolitan Municipality and the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), with institutional support from waste pickers, local communities, environmental NGOs, manufacturers, and vocational schools. Waste pickers, who are the backbone of the informal economy, receive recognition, improved conditions, and formal integration. Communities are empowered through jobs, parks, and public amenities.
Focusing on youth unemployment, environmental deterioration, and inefficient use of land, the project promotes sustainable, community-oriented industrial architecture. Aligning with domestic circular economy goals, it promotes local production and urban quality of life.
The building integrates Circular Economy and New Urbanism by spatially zoning clean and dirty functions, closed loops of waste for material recovery, and public spaces for accessibility and inclusivity. Mixed-use zones, modular construction, walkways, and glass facades compose a lean, inclusive, and resilient urban foundry.
