Empower Shack

The Social Housing Empower Shack project found a home in Khayelitsha through the partnerships of U-TT and the local NGO Ikhayalami. The concept is to develop a new open-source housing prototype and urban plan, which could be a model for informal settlement upgrading across South Africa. Using the existing footprint of the shack and working closely and transparently with residents and city planners, structures are built creating homes, not just houses. We have successfully built 51 homes to date and are hoping to build many more.

We continue to search for support to keep building houses, and hope you can see the innovation and help make Khayelitsha a more vibrant community and culture hub with programmes to develop children and the youth through culture as well as support local artists, arts organizations, and initiatives. The architecture demonstrates that it is possible to make a space where local and international collaborations can add to the liveliness of the settlement and bring economic development and jobs into the area.

The Empower Shack is an approach that holds the potential to have a great and positive impact on the future of cities globally by transforming informal settlements. To get involved contact us at info@uttdesign.com, we need your support to succeed with this transformation.