Volley Roper Shortlisted for the World Architecture Festival 2026

The World Architecture Festival (WAF) has revealed its full 2026 shortlist — more than 416 projects competing across the Completed Buildings, Interiors, Future Projects, and Landscape categories. Volley Roper has been shortlisted among the projects in Completed Buildings.

Volley Roper brings a new aesthetic language to one of Pretoria's main academic arteries, framing the Brooklyn suburb on the route to the University of Pretoria's main campus. Home to 155 students, the building's waved facade draws on the spatial and material character of Brooklyn's modernist architectural heritage, reinterpreted for a contemporary student living scheme.

That heritage runs deep in the site itself. In the 1960s, the residential work of the late architect John Claassens helped shape a distinctly local strand of modernism in the suburb. One of his houses stands directly to the south of Volley Roper, and the Claassens House has been refurbished into social and study spaces for the student housing — a building that directly informed the character of the new facade.

Wrapping the structure is a dynamic breeze-block screen, giving Volley Roper a distinct identity while creating a layered architectural expression that responds to light, privacy, and climate, with the main facade facing west. Rooted in community, the building fosters a student living environment built around connection, interaction, and a strong sense of belonging.