COMMUNITY-LED CARE

Following Urban Think Tank Empower’s award-winning ‘Empower Upgrade Model’, the team turned what was once a dense informal settlement into a resilient urban ecosystem, housed within a 520 m² community facility. By formalising homes for residents using efficient rowhouse typologies, significant space was freed up for shared infrastructure: a community centre, a public playground, and critical social amenities. This strategic densification enhances the liveability of the space through education, recreation, economic opportunity, and community-led care, which co-exist in a single, integrated precinct.

The centre’s name, chosen by the community leaders, merges two locations: the Soweto settlement in Cape Town and Caracas, Venezuela where Urban Think Tank Group began. ‘It was a very unexpected name, however this reiterates the need to take guidance from the community to effectively collaborate, and for the community to ultimately assume ownership of the development,’ says Benjamin Kollenberg from UTTE.

Securing ambition

The Ubuntu Empower Football Academy (185 m²), a partnership between Ubuntu Football and Urban Think Tank Empower, is a flagship initiative within the centre. Open to both boys and girls in Grades 3 to 6 (20 students per grade), the academy combines high-performance football training with a robust curriculum in numeracy, literacy, and life skills. The ambition is clear: develop well-rounded individuals capable of pursuing academic scholarships, professional careers, and local leadership roles.

Students are required to meet educational benchmarks to retain access to football training. This creates a culture where excellence in the classroom is valued equally to talent on the field. As one community member put it, ‘Kids are now trying to be the best at football and the cleverest, not the toughest or most feared.’ Serving as a social anchor, the academy draws activity and engagement into the centre throughout the day. It strengthens ‘community security’ through natural surveillance while reinforcing the importance of structured routines and purpose among the youth.

Grassroots foundations

Adjacent to the academy is Nonzame’s Educare (40 m²), an early childhood development centre born from a grassroots initiative. Founded by Nonzame, a local resident and beneficiary of an Empower home, the crèche began inside her modest dwelling after she recognised the need for a safe, nurturing space for children of working parents.The new facility expands that offering significantly, delivering a purpose-built classroom with access to shared amenities including toilets, a kitchen, and external play areas. Here, early learning is not an afterthought — it is foundational. Cognitive development, socialisation, and physical stimulation prepare children for primary school and beyond.

Architecture as infrastructure for empowerment

With the crèche and the football academy functioning symbiotically, children can graduate from Nonzame’s Educare directly into the Ubuntu program, both of which allow access to a kitchen (stocked with produce from the rooftop gardens), outdoor play areas, and community events infrastructure. Both facilities were shaped through extensive consultation with the Soweto community and designed as a holistic ecosystem. The Soweto-Caracas Community Centre includes a multipurpose hall, rooftop farm, coworking space, and formal infrastructure, offering a blueprint for integrated township development. To further community upliftment, materials were sourced locally, and construction practices prioritised on-site training and employment, with over 50% of the labour force coming from within the community. Off-grid energy solutions (PV solar), passive ventilation, and water storage infrastructure reinforce the project’s long-term sustainability.

With the Empower concept promoting housing as an ecosystem, the community centre is more than just a building; it forms part of a system offering social and educational support to the residents from the surrounding the development. The centre represents a shift in how affordable housing projects should be delivered — the Soweto-Caracas Community Centre’s strength lies in its relevance: rooted in daily life, in direct service of its people, and designed with them at every stage.