World Architecture Festival 2025: Best Use of Natural Light

Redhill Early Learning Centre, designed by Hubo Studio, was awarded the Best Use of Natural Light Special Prize at the World Architecture Festival 2025.

This international recognition celebrates the project’s sensitive and purposeful use of natural light as a core part of the learning experience. Across the centre, light is used to shape atmosphere, movement and discovery, creating spaces that feel warm, open and deeply connected to the rhythms of the day.

Located in Johannesburg, the Redhill Early Learning Centre reimagines the school as a “mini city”: a connected network of learning spaces, ateliers, courtyards and gathering areas that encourage curiosity, independence and collaboration. Natural light plays a defining role in this environment, supporting the centre’s child-centred approach and enriching the way children experience space, scale, texture and time.

For Hubo Studio and Redhill School, this award is a meaningful acknowledgement of architecture’s ability to support learning through atmosphere, sensory experience and careful environmental design.