KASHITU SCHOOL COMPETITION

École nationale supérieure d'architecture et de paysage de Lille, Lille

Project idea

This project tends to propose a healthy and sustainable environment for a Zambian school. The conception process has given importance to the local climate, to bioclimatic design, to local, natural, cheap and easy to work materials. The construction process is thought to be as simple as possible in order to be reproducible.

Project description

The project can be defined into two main parts.
The first one is the school by itself, located at the center of the plot, it's the core of the project, with the most important features. This building hosts the classrooms, a teacher room, a community hall, a library, a dining hall, as well as a kitchen and a sanitary. The buildings are really open on the outside, allowing a great light and natural ventilation (using principles such as convection and wind catcher).
The second part of the project is a belt of smaller buildings on the edge of the plot, these simple units would host services related to the school, such as the dormitories and the sanitaries, but also some workshops, some storage areas and the watchman buildings. This organization in belt is interesting because it creates a “fence” around the plot which naturally protects the school area (from trespassing, animals, wind, sand and view). Moreover, in between the school and the belt we would have a large private courtyard where a lot of activities could take place (such as workshops areas, playgrounds, shaded areas, crops, fields and fruit forest).
On the north of the plot, outside the belt perimeter, a set of teacher houses could be built during a second phase of the project.

Technical information

All buildings have an easy to build design which uses raw earth, bamboo and steel sheets as main materials (cheap and easy to find materials). In addition we would use some fabric and wood for detailing (shade, window frame, false ceiling,...) and furniture.