Kafountine, Senegal | 2022

The design of this new Secondary School recalls the simplicity of raw earth architecture through Cob and Timber, as a collaborative process of construction, which can be incorporated by the community into their own spaces.

The project aims to believe in the strength that Earth can have, and understand how we can ally with the natural resources to improve the quality of our spaces. Both, Cob and Timber, are resilient strong structures that symbolize the potential we have as a society by working together for the well- being of our community.

Two arrayed volumes converge outside the project to open their perspective toward the possible sports facilities. Each element holds a set of classrooms that get intersected by collective spaces such as the multipurpose space, a covered area, and an outside patio; parting each element into small units. Aiming to emphasize the existing trees, and the volumes surrounding them and integrate them as part of the project to honor them.

The architecture of this earth school embraces the simplicity of its materials while ensuring the climate efficiency of each space by lifting parallel walls towards the dominant winds to carry out the humidity during the rainy season, and also integrates vegetation on the project’s heart to humidify the air during the dry season.

By modulating the wood structure and including all the adjustments as part of the furniture, lattice, and landscape intervention, we achieve projects that promote a zero-waste policy. GROUND PLAN

As the head of design at the office, I lead the management of this competition project. I organized the team to work cohesively, sharing ideas and dividing tasks to meet the deadline. The execution of activities and creation of informative diagrams were collaborative efforts, with me overseeing revisions and compiling them for the application.

• Schematic design
• Design development