School expansion

Ethiopia

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Housing prototype

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Matthew Courtright Memorial High School

School expansion

Ethiopia

Firm

GoDesign Inc

Type

Educational › Elementary School

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2013

SIZE

5000 sqft - 10,000 sqft

BUDGET

$10K - 50K

The northern region of Ethiopia is known to be one of the hottest and driest
places on earth. The people here are nomadic and follow their herds in search
for water.
According to VWDO, a local NGO working with these people; only 10% of the
school aged children have an opportunity to attend school. In many towns in
this region there are no schools. Where you find schools the education level is
very poor, so poor that most families are not willing to send their children.
Because of the hot and dry climate most buildings in this area are very
uncomfortable to inhabit during the day. Due to this issue people take
advantage of whatever breeze and shade may be found outside.
The goal for this project was to create classrooms that would be comfortable
for the children throughout the day and would use as many local materials as
possible. The nearest market was a two hour drive, which would make many
materials very expensive. We decided to use rock as the primary building
material due to its abundance in the region.
Due to being constructed in an earthquake zone, the building has large vertical
columns and horizontal concrete bracing for extra support. The large rock walls
have great thermal mass which keeps this building about 15 degrees cooler
than other buildings in this region.