Architects of King David sports centre among the world’s best

Hubo Studio has put South African architecture on the global stage. Its design of the Klaff Family Sports Complex at King David High School has been shortlisted in the sport category of the prestigious World Architecture Festival (WAF) Awards. The project is one of just seven sports buildings worldwide to make the 2026 shortlist. 

The World Architecture Festival is regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious architecture competitions, attracting hundreds of entries from leading architects across the globe. Shortlisted projects are judged by a panel of international experts before finalists present their work live at the festival. The recognition is a milestone not only for Johannesburg-based Hubo Studio, but also for King David, placing one of South Africa’s Jewish schools alongside internationally acclaimed architectural projects and reinforcing the school’s investment in world-class facilities. 

“WAF is the biggest live judged architecture event, and it’s basically the global stage for architecture,” says Asher Marcus, founder and lead designer at Hubo Studio. “The work happening in Johannesburg and in King David schools and in our Jewish community is relevant to the global conversation”, he says. 

He says that what makes the King David sports centre special is the different approach to sport, particularly through the use of colour. 

“Sports is a space that has prolific amounts of bullying, pressure, and discomfort. What we tried to do was create a spatial approach to how sports can feel and how it can be accessible to everyone,” he says. “We’re a community that doesn’t have many professional athletes, but that doesn’t mean we can’t create a space that feels professional, special, and wonderful, and where we can celebrate the heroes in our own world.” 

The centre is described as a sports village, with a dance studio, indoor and outdoor courts, a cardio gym with double-volume views of the sports fields, amphitheatre seating, and recovery rooms with ice baths. These spaces are connected by terraces, spill-out zones, and shared courtyards, encouraging a strong sense of community. 

Hubo Studio isn’t an unfamiliar name at the World Architecture Festival. Last year, it won the Best Use of Natural Light award for the Redhill Early Learning Centre in Johannesburg. 

Similarly, Hubo Studios won two Architizer A+ Awards for its work on the Redhill Early Learning Centre in June. 

It was named the Jury Winner in the Best Kindergarten category, placing the project at the forefront of early-learning design worldwide. The project was also awarded the Popular Choice Winner in the Educational Interiors category. 

“The Popular Choice Award holds a particularly special meaning for the studio,” says Marcus. “It reflects the incredible support of the people around us, our clients, collaborators, friends, families, and wider community, who came together to champion this project. Seeing so many people take the time to vote, share, and support Hubo Studio was a powerful reminder that architecture is never created in isolation. It is shaped by the communities it serves, and celebrated by the communities that believe in it.” 

After the studio’s success at WAF last year, it submitted the King David Sports Centre for another education award. However, the organisers of WAF shortlisted the project under the sports category. 

Marcus, also a judge at WAF this year, says being shortlisted shows that the relatively small studio can compete with some of the world’s biggest architectural firms. 

“It was exciting for us to find out that the project resonated so much with the jury. They have since been invited to exhibit at the World Architecture Festival. It’s a big deal for us. We punch above our weight, but we’re very ambitious and also conscious of the fact that this is no small feat. It’s among thousands of entries, and it shows what rigour, hard work, determination, and forward thinking can do,” he says. 

This sets the tone for future projects, including a school in Miami. 

“We’ve set the standard. We want every project we do to be of a quality that is the best in the world, and that for me is quite an outrageous thing to say. But having won a World Architecture Festival prize and the two Architizer A+ Awards gives us the confidence and global backing to know that what we’re doing is world-leading, not just world-class,” says Marcus.