Located within the historic and politically charged landscape of District Six in Cape Town, the Rahmah Library is a newly completed educational facility that redefines how learning spaces can be imagined through collaboration, context, and care. Designed by The MAAK and curated by Hadir Al Koshta, the 215 m² library was completed in 2025 as part of Rahmaniyeh Primary School, one of the oldest remaining schools in District Six. Until recently, the school’s 500+ learners had no dedicated library; the new building now fills that absence with a space conceived not only for books, but for belonging, imagination, and collective authorship.
Architecturally, the library is defined by a simple yet expressive mono-pitched roof that responds directly to its surroundings. Rising toward the dramatic mountain views to the south, the roof simultaneously shields the interior from the harsh northern sun, creating a comfortable and climatically responsive learning environment. A curving glass block wall beneath the triangular eastern elevation leans outward to form a welcoming entrance and covered play zone, blurring the boundary between learning and play. The exterior brickwork is carefully articulated through shifts in bond, color, and texture, echoing and reinterpreting the material language of the original school buildings and rooting the new intervention firmly within its architectural lineage.
Inside, the library unfolds as a single, generous volume, with service spaces discreetly tucked away to maintain spatial clarity. Subtle changes in floor level—reflecting the natural slope of the site—organize the interior into distinct yet interconnected zones, including a reception area, a sunken reading pit, a central library core, a classroom area, and a conversation lounge. Rather than prescribing a single way of using the space, the design encourages multiple “postures of reading,” allowing learners to sit, lounge, gather, or read alone. Playful details and warm material choices, particularly the extensive use of wood, contribute to an atmosphere that is both calm and inviting.
Central to the project is a deeply embedded process of user engagement and co-creation. Working alongside child-centred designer Xanelé Mennen from the Otto Foundation, the operational partner of the scheme, The MAAK facilitated a series of workshops with learners from Rahmaniyeh Primary School. Through these sessions, the children became active contributors to the design process, offering insights that directly shaped key elements of the building. One of the most distinctive outcomes of this collaboration is the “Rahmah-Rama” bookshelves, imagined by the learners and realized by local furniture designers Pedersen and Lennard. The workshops, as Mennen notes, helped build trust, foster agency, and create a strong sense of ownership—an investment that is evident in how closely the children identify with the completed library.
The project also engages thoughtfully with the layered and often painful history of District Six, an area profoundly affected by Apartheid-era forced removals. In collaboration with artist and land researcher Zayaan Khan, clay sourced from the surrounding neighborhood—sometimes containing fragments of demolished homes—was transformed into door pushplates and decorative tiles. This same material was later used to create custom “District Six Bricks,” laid into the entrance lobby floor and around an external drinking fountain. These tactile, hyper-contextual elements act as quiet but powerful gestures of remembrance and reclamation, physically embedding the history of the place into the daily life of the school.
Constructed by Bruce Dundas Master Builders, with structural engineering by Arup, and photographed by Kent Andreasen, the Rahmah Library stands as a compelling example of what can emerge when architecture is shaped by dialogue across generations and disciplines. More than a functional school building, it is a sanctuary for reading and imagination, and a symbol of what is possible when design prioritizes users, context, and care. Officially opened in 2025, the library marks a significant milestone for Rahmaniyeh Primary School and the wider District Six community. As School Principal Mrs. Shireen Jaffer describes it, the Rahmah Library is “a home away from home,” a space poised to nurture curiosity and a love for learning for many years to come.
