ROOFING & CLADDING
Former
GREEN PLANKIE SCHOOL
NOW A WINNER
An award-winning school in Paarl shows how light steel framing can speed up delivery, reuse existing infrastructure, and create better learning spaces.
In another success story arising from the Southern Africa Institute for Steel Construction( SAISC) Steel Awards 2025, we look at education infrastructure that scooped the Lightweight Steel Framing and Western Cape Regional awards.
An asset of the Western Cape Provincial Education Department, the New Orleans Primary School in Paarl was successfully reinvented to replace the former“ plankie” building that was colloquially known as the Green School, due to the profuse application of green paint in its earlier days.
What is significant about this project is its reuse of existing concrete foundation infrastructure and as much of the former structure as possible.
According to the judges of the Steel Awards 2025, the critical Western Cape Education Department( WCED) project involved the revitalisation of a condemned 1973 school in Paarl. The project brief was demanding: Reuse existing foundations, deliver the solution rapidly to return learners, and be costeffective – all while prioritising classroom blocks.
82 winter 2026 | www. tobuild. co. za