A South African-born architect who is now based in the UK is on a drive to change the look and feel of public sector buildings.

Hospitals, schools and prisons will soon get a facelift from Nightingale Architecture, the Cape Town branch of Nightingale Associates, which is owned by Mike Nightingale.

Nightingale Associates has behind it 18 year’s worth of specialist experience in revamping state infrastructure.

Its Cape Town office was opened three years ago, working mostly on the design and production of international private-public partnership hospitals, schools and colleges of further education.

Nightingale Associates executive chairman Richard Harrington said it had become very evident to the company’s directors that South Africa currently had a massive need for improved public sector infrastructure.

The company incorporates the senses of sight, smell and sound in developments, which it said were critical, particularly in hospital buildings.

Nightingale Architecture manager Wallace Manyara said the opening of the branch was a realisation of a dream for Nightingale, the chairman.

He said Nightingale did not want to develop replicas of UK government buildings, but to customise them for South Africa, as they had done in the Sunyani community hospital in Ghana.

He said the company ensured it would comply with broad-based black economic empowerment, which led to 30 percent of its staff members becoming senior black management.

Manyara said: “We firmly believe that hospitals should not be places people dread to be . The medicine may do its work, but a positive environment has been proven to help people heal.

“Infrastructure development in health care is one of the critical needs in the country, and this is certainly an opportunity for us to showcase what we do best.”

The Groote Schuur Hospital’s new system for the easier identification of wards was designed by the company.

Nightingale is eyeing Somerset Hospital, St Vincent’s Children’s Home and Heart of Healing as just some of its planned projects for next year. Manyara said the firm focused on previously disadvantaged architects.

“Until now we have lacked the proper empowerment vehicle to give real impetus to our initiatives and commitment to black economic empowerment.

“We will redefine the standards of public infrastructure, and bring a combination of best practice, design quality, production capacity and good value to government departments,” Manyara said.