For the past eight years, Johannesburg-based Local Studio has been actively engaged in what founding principal Thomas Chapman calls “social-impact projects.” The 15-person office—a RECORD Design Vanguard firm in 2018—is known for hyper-local initiatives, including community centers and affordable housing. Like many of its projects, the studio’s most recent, a four-classroom primary school in the suburb of Mayfair West, was made possible by a private donor—something Chapman attributes to a general lack of interest in the public sector for such work. Funded by the Italtile and Ceramic Foundation, whose parent company manufactures building products, the new Salvazione Christian School building—located within walking distance of the studio’s office—serves students from a nearby informal settlement called Slovo Park.