Rising Star School – Perimeter wall around the school in Hopley
PARTNER
Rising Star Primary School Hopley
LOCATION
Hopley, Harare, Zimbabwe
COMMUNITY
Students, teachers, and administrative staff at the primary school in Hopley
PHASE
DURATION
since 2025
ARCHITECTURE
A wall is to be built around the grounds of the primary school in Hopley to provide protection and safety for the students. Further information on the architecture of the award-winning Rising Star Primary School.
The community in Hopley is very happy because the education of their people is now recognised everywhere because of the school. I can see a lot of things have changed; the way they dress, they talk. I wish you could come and build another school in some areas.
The Rising Star School is located on the outskirts of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. The Hopley neighbourhood is characterised by informal housing structures. An estimated 200,000 people live in Hopley, but it lacks basic urban infrastructure such as electricity, running water, and sanitation systems. In the heart of this densely populated settlement, the primary school serves as a hub for the community, functioning not only as a school during regular school hours but also as a gathering place for residents.
The school building was jointly constructed by the school administration, the Vision & Hope Foundation, and Engineers Without Borders Germany. After seven construction phases, it was completed and handed over in March 2023. In addition to classrooms and administrative offices, a sanitation building with separate toilets for girls, boys, and teachers was also built by the same partners. Our founder, Kristina Ziadeh, oversaw the project and construction management on behalf of Engineers Without Borders.
Building on this success, we at studio*k ACT are ensuring that the primary school can offer its students greater safety. A much-anticipated perimeter wall, encompassing all 5 hectares of the school grounds, will be built. This will protect not only the classrooms and schoolyard, which are already surrounded by buildings, but also open spaces such as the football and netball pitches, and the vegetable garden. As a result of the new perimeter wall, the existing school borehole will also become part of the campus. Until now, it has been located away from the school due to its proximity to the groundwater, being separated from the school by a public footpath. Once the new perimeter wall is in place, schoolchildren, especially younger children from kindergarten age onwards, will be able to access all school facilities independently and safely.
The 1,100-metre-long wall will be made of red brick, in line with the school buildings, and will be built by our trusted construction team in Hopley.