90% plus with Kevin Kimwelle

In his project “90% plus”, Kevin Kimwelle revisited the building materials, methods, and components he has developed for several award-winning alternative design-build projects in South Africa. These include prototypes of a community facility in Joe Slovo Township (Overall Transformation Award 2018 SAPOA Awards), a house in Port Elizabeth (Winner of South African Institute of Architects 2022 SAIA-EC Awards), and his latest Food Pavilion in Cape Town (“Targeting Net Zero”). Throughout the fellowship, Kevin initiated collaborative, cross-disciplinary work and networking, bringing his design practice to Berlin to convince local authorities, developers, and professional building consultants to use these alternative building methods in South Africa and beyond.

Kevin Kimwelle’s experience spans from Kenya to South Africa and includes collaborations in the USA, Germany, and India. His career has focused on sustainable, people-centred community development work in his home country of South Africa. His unique designs respond to the urgency of social and environmental crises, grounding alternative building practices with recycled materials in a holistic application of the Sustainable Development Goals. He was a finalist for Design Indaba’s Most Beautiful Object in South Africa 2017 and has won several architecture awards including the “Overall Transformation 2018 SAPOA Award” and the “South African Institute of Architects Regional Commendation Award 2023.” He has been featured in news articles by CNN, The Guardian, Deutsche Welle TV, and Mnet. Furthermore, he has also been showcased in Architectural Record and Metropolis Magazine New York. Recently he participated in the “Copenhagen Film Festival for The UIA” under the Sustainable Development Goal ‘Leave No One Behind‘ and was part of the Creative Climate Coalition for COP27 in Egypt.

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Kevin’s collaboration with Bauhaus Earth team at the Marienpark LAB fostered new connections, reflecting his commitment to innovative approaches in reused and recycled materials in the built environment. The meaningful contribution of the project enriched both his practice and BE-FELLOW, expanding knowledge and raising awareness of an understudied practice.

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