African School Project | Stefano Mont Girbés

team: Roberta Alessandrini, Marina Di Camillo, Stefano Mont Girbés

Efficiency, modularity, and respect for the environment are the guide principles of our project. The main square is a connection space but also a community area where people can enjoy their time. The square is filled with benches and trees, and it is bounded by the teachers’ terraced houses, the dormitory and the “main building”. The front porch of the teachers’ terraced houses is made by wooden slats, creating a soft separation between the private and public space.

The first dormitory is facing the main square. At the back of it, in the expansion phase, there are the other 2 dormitories that form another small square thanks to their L-shape form. All the rooms are furnished with bunk beds, and they have a living space where the pupils can do their homework, play and enjoy their time. The “main building” hosts the library, the multipurpose space, the dining area and the offices. It is a side scene for the square but also a division between the classrooms area and the residences. The school is organized by a modular L-shape system, with classrooms of equal size. There is a thatched roof jutting so to create a “Cloister”, a covered passage around the class- rooms’ accesses.
The first phase of the project shows 2 L-shape modules with 4 classrooms, 2 laboratories and outdoor classes facing the vegetable garden.The second phase is made adding 2 L-shape modules, and a block with 2 laboratories (moved from their first position, leaving space for other 2 class- rooms). The project is therefore modular and can be used in different location just replicating L-shape modules. From the energetic point of view, all the building elements are made with local materials like the clay bricks, straw walls, or the thatched roof. We also thought about the reuse of the rainwater, placing water storage tanks (with filters and separators for the first flush) in each house. We have also placed the needed water tanks close to road to facilitate their refill. Thanks to this technology, all the people can have pure water for their needs.

The latrines are all made using the composting technologies to have natural fertilizer for the vegetable garden. On the roof of the dining area and in each house, there are blades used as wind farm so to produce electricity. This wind farm is connected to batteries powered also by photovoltaic panels placed above each building.

Location: Malawi
Year: 2019