OBF SURULERE- Remodeling of Exstg. Building for Educational purpose | Kareem Awojodu-Junaid

In Ile-Ife, Yorubaland in South West, Nigeria, is an ancient civilization which reached her pinnacle from the 11th to the 15th centuries. Ileke (colourful glass beads) were used for various spiritual and social functions such as worship, healing, love, rite of passage, chastity (proof), fertility etc.

In Yoruba spiritualism, there's Ileke Ifa and Ileke Esu etc (color coded) while for persoanl beauty/ cosmetics and other social uses, there's the Ileke Idi, Ileke Aje etc.

Dating back to the 9th century, the glass Ileke (beads) in Ile-Ife were strong in high lime, high alumina content, which is not produced anywhere else in the world.

On this project, located in a medium density urban residential area close to a community football ground, thus exposed to the elements, particularly the midday and afternoon sun,  the design solution to reduce heat gains in the building is by adopting shading devices around the exposed sides of the building. And for a more holistic design, the shading device is used as the cladding design, informed by the Ile-Ife's Ileke patterns.

At KMHC Architects & Design Consultants, we aim to merge Practical design solutions with African ornaments in architecture.