The Story Behind The Nicki
Keszler Innovation Hub
This Hub will always have a special place in the heart of our founders as it was built in honor of the late Nicki Keszler, a young man who left us all far too soon. Nicki was a lover of life, a traveller, aspiring software engineer and someone who loved giving back and putting a smile on another person’s face.
This was the second Innovation Hub we had ever built and was placed in Kuwadzana, a low-income, high-density suburb outside of Harare, not far from our first Hub in Dzivarasekwa in January of 2020. We wanted to switch up the designs and had the idea to cover the Hub in plants, to make the space feel like a living & breathing entity.
We also decided to go with a raw, wood interior and to strip the container floor down to its base layer to give the space a more natural feel. When we delivered the Innovation Hub to its final location, we installed the glass, plants and shelves.
We had a lot of fun working onsite and received a great deal of help from the students, staff and administrators at our partner school. It was a real joy to see how a space like this could bring people and communities together, even before it was officially opened!
The last steps in bringing Nicki’s Hub to life were to add the plants and solar power. Adding these finishing touches was a true community affair and we were delighted to have the Headmistress herself helping to plant the flowers which would become a true sight to see! We couldn’t be happier with how the Hub turned out!
Nicki, we miss you. We are honored to have gotten a chance to eternalize your legacy in this way. Because of you, thousands of children will get a computer science education and hundreds of young adults will go from unemployed to working in the tech industry. This won’t bring you back, but you’ll be with us all, impacting countless lives and putting smiles on people’s faces, forever.
