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Nabari Maternity Center
Nabari Maternity Center
Tamale, Ghana
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Other Projects by Ohene Twum Architecture
Nabari Maternity Center
Tamale, Ghana
STATUS
Concept
YEAR
2025
SIZE
1000 sqft - 3000 sqft
BUDGET
$10K - 50K
Project Description:
The Nabari Maternity Center is a purpose-built healthcare facility designed to provide essential maternal care services to the community in Nyeshie Tamale. The architecture balances functionality, cultural sensitivity, and environmental considerations to create a safe, welcoming, and efficient space for patients and healthcare providers alike.
The design maximizes space efficiency within its 1,250-square-foot footprint, incorporating a well-structured program that ensures smooth circulation and accessibility. The layout includes a doctor's office, a dedicated small surgery and delivery room, and a total bed capacity of six. The facility also features a comfortable waiting area, a wide walkway for ease of movement, and a dedicated eating and rest area for nurses, ensuring the well-being of both patients and caregivers.
Design Considerations:
Spatial Organization: The floor plan optimizes patient flow, with clearly defined zones for consultation, treatment, recovery, and staff support.
Cultural Sensitivity: The design integrates features that respect the local cultural and social dynamics, ensuring a welcoming and familiar environment for patients.
Sustainability: The facility incorporates passive cooling strategies, including a perforated front façade that allows for natural ventilation while providing shade. The material palette includes local, sustainable materials that blend harmoniously with the surrounding landscape.
Aesthetic and Functional Approach: The east façade features a perforated screen that provides privacy while maintaining visual and thermal comfort. The use of warm, earthy tones in the exterior reflects the local architectural vernacular.
Community Impact: The maternity center serves as a vital healthcare resource, improving access to quality maternal care and reducing the burden on regional healthcare facilities.
Final Outcome:
The Nabari Maternity Center exemplifies an intersection of architectural ingenuity and social responsibility. Through thoughtful spatial planning and material selection, the project ensures a dignified healthcare experience while embracing the essence of local architecture and community well-being.
Sustainable Building Design Through Passive Measures
The Nabari Maternity Center maximizes passive cooling with thick, locally sourced rammed earth walls that provide excellent thermal mass, stabilizing indoor temperatures. The eastern facade is heavily shaded with a bamboo screen, mitigating heat gain due to the site's east-west orientation. Cross-ventilation is optimized through operable openings, reducing reliance on mechanical cooling. A high-albedo roof minimizes heat absorption, enhancing occupant comfort. These strategies create a naturally cool, well-lit environment, improving patient recovery and staff well-being.
Efficient Construction and Operations
The center employs rammed earth, significantly lowering embodied carbon compared to conventional materials. The locally sourced earth minimizes transportation emissions, while a bamboo shading screen provides a renewable alternative to energy-intensive materials. Construction waste is repurposed on-site, reducing landfill impact. A solar-powered system supplies essential medical equipment, and rainwater harvesting reduces water dependency. The design ensures long-term efficiency, aligning sustainability with cost-effective operations.
Landscape & Biodiversity Integration
The site design preserves native vegetation and enhances biodiversity through drought-resistant planting. Permeable landscaping mitigates runoff, replenishing groundwater. Indigenous trees provide shade, improving microclimate conditions and reducing heat stress. The project fosters ecological balance by maintaining wildlife corridors and integrating medicinal plants used in traditional healing. By restoring natural elements within a healthcare setting, the design supports environmental resilience while promoting well-being.
Land Use & Transformation
Situated on a narrow plot with an unavoidable east-west orientation, the project maximizes land efficiency by prioritizing compact, shaded spaces. The intervention transforms underutilized land into a critical maternal health facility, fostering community resilience. The locally driven construction process empowers the workforce with sustainable building skills, promoting economic development. The center serves as a model for regenerative land use, demonstrating how healthcare infrastructure can integrate with ecological and cultural contexts.
Participatory Design
The Nabari Maternity Center was designed through extensive community engagement, incorporating input from local women, healthcare workers, and traditional leaders. Workshops and consultations ensured that the layout, materials, and spatial arrangements aligned with cultural norms and healthcare needs. Women played a key role in shaping the patient experience, influencing the inclusion of shaded gathering spaces and natural ventilation for comfort. The use of local labor and skills in construction fosters a sense of ownership, making the facility a true community-led initiative.
Community Impact and Resilience
The center improves maternal healthcare access in an underserved area, reducing travel burdens and health risks for expectant mothers. Its sustainable, low-carbon design ensures long-term affordability and ease of maintenance. The rammed earth walls provide thermal stability, protecting against rising temperatures, while the bamboo screen enhances shade and airflow. The facility strengthens social cohesion by serving as both a healthcare hub and a community gathering space, reinforcing local resilience in the face of environmental and economic challenges.
Financial Feasibility
The Nabari Maternity Center is designed for economic sustainability with minimal operational costs. The $15,000 construction budget is optimized through the use of locally sourced rammed earth, reducing material expenses and transportation costs. Volunteer labor and partnerships with charitable agencies ensure that staffing and medical supplies remain cost-free, lowering financial burdens on the community. The durable, low-maintenance design extends the building’s lifespan, while its flexible spaces allow for future adaptation. Local artisans and builders are employed, boosting the regional economy. Additionally, the structure’s passive cooling reduces energy costs, ensuring long-term affordability and resilience.
Aesthetic Qualities and Cultural Integration
The Nabari Maternity Center harmonizes with its environment through the use of locally sourced rammed earth, reflecting the vernacular architecture and earthy tones of the region. The design respects the cultural heritage by incorporating traditional construction techniques, fostering a deep connection with local craftsmanship. A bamboo shading screen provides a delicate contrast, adding texture while maintaining a natural aesthetic. The building’s orientation and shading strategies enhance both form and function, creating a serene and welcoming space that integrates seamlessly into its surroundings, offering dignity and beauty to the community it serves.
The Nabari Maternity Center is a purpose-built healthcare facility designed to provide essential maternal care services to the community in Nyeshie Tamale. The architecture balances functionality, cultural sensitivity, and environmental considerations to create a safe, welcoming, and efficient space for patients and healthcare providers alike.
The design maximizes space efficiency within its 1,250-square-foot footprint, incorporating a well-structured program that ensures smooth circulation and accessibility. The layout includes a doctor's office, a dedicated small surgery and delivery room, and a total bed capacity of six. The facility also features a comfortable waiting area, a wide walkway for ease of movement, and a dedicated eating and rest area for nurses, ensuring the well-being of both patients and caregivers.
Design Considerations:
Spatial Organization: The floor plan optimizes patient flow, with clearly defined zones for consultation, treatment, recovery, and staff support.
Cultural Sensitivity: The design integrates features that respect the local cultural and social dynamics, ensuring a welcoming and familiar environment for patients.
Sustainability: The facility incorporates passive cooling strategies, including a perforated front façade that allows for natural ventilation while providing shade. The material palette includes local, sustainable materials that blend harmoniously with the surrounding landscape.
Aesthetic and Functional Approach: The east façade features a perforated screen that provides privacy while maintaining visual and thermal comfort. The use of warm, earthy tones in the exterior reflects the local architectural vernacular.
Community Impact: The maternity center serves as a vital healthcare resource, improving access to quality maternal care and reducing the burden on regional healthcare facilities.
Final Outcome:
The Nabari Maternity Center exemplifies an intersection of architectural ingenuity and social responsibility. Through thoughtful spatial planning and material selection, the project ensures a dignified healthcare experience while embracing the essence of local architecture and community well-being.
Sustainable Building Design Through Passive Measures
The Nabari Maternity Center maximizes passive cooling with thick, locally sourced rammed earth walls that provide excellent thermal mass, stabilizing indoor temperatures. The eastern facade is heavily shaded with a bamboo screen, mitigating heat gain due to the site's east-west orientation. Cross-ventilation is optimized through operable openings, reducing reliance on mechanical cooling. A high-albedo roof minimizes heat absorption, enhancing occupant comfort. These strategies create a naturally cool, well-lit environment, improving patient recovery and staff well-being.
Efficient Construction and Operations
The center employs rammed earth, significantly lowering embodied carbon compared to conventional materials. The locally sourced earth minimizes transportation emissions, while a bamboo shading screen provides a renewable alternative to energy-intensive materials. Construction waste is repurposed on-site, reducing landfill impact. A solar-powered system supplies essential medical equipment, and rainwater harvesting reduces water dependency. The design ensures long-term efficiency, aligning sustainability with cost-effective operations.
Landscape & Biodiversity Integration
The site design preserves native vegetation and enhances biodiversity through drought-resistant planting. Permeable landscaping mitigates runoff, replenishing groundwater. Indigenous trees provide shade, improving microclimate conditions and reducing heat stress. The project fosters ecological balance by maintaining wildlife corridors and integrating medicinal plants used in traditional healing. By restoring natural elements within a healthcare setting, the design supports environmental resilience while promoting well-being.
Land Use & Transformation
Situated on a narrow plot with an unavoidable east-west orientation, the project maximizes land efficiency by prioritizing compact, shaded spaces. The intervention transforms underutilized land into a critical maternal health facility, fostering community resilience. The locally driven construction process empowers the workforce with sustainable building skills, promoting economic development. The center serves as a model for regenerative land use, demonstrating how healthcare infrastructure can integrate with ecological and cultural contexts.
Participatory Design
The Nabari Maternity Center was designed through extensive community engagement, incorporating input from local women, healthcare workers, and traditional leaders. Workshops and consultations ensured that the layout, materials, and spatial arrangements aligned with cultural norms and healthcare needs. Women played a key role in shaping the patient experience, influencing the inclusion of shaded gathering spaces and natural ventilation for comfort. The use of local labor and skills in construction fosters a sense of ownership, making the facility a true community-led initiative.
Community Impact and Resilience
The center improves maternal healthcare access in an underserved area, reducing travel burdens and health risks for expectant mothers. Its sustainable, low-carbon design ensures long-term affordability and ease of maintenance. The rammed earth walls provide thermal stability, protecting against rising temperatures, while the bamboo screen enhances shade and airflow. The facility strengthens social cohesion by serving as both a healthcare hub and a community gathering space, reinforcing local resilience in the face of environmental and economic challenges.
Financial Feasibility
The Nabari Maternity Center is designed for economic sustainability with minimal operational costs. The $15,000 construction budget is optimized through the use of locally sourced rammed earth, reducing material expenses and transportation costs. Volunteer labor and partnerships with charitable agencies ensure that staffing and medical supplies remain cost-free, lowering financial burdens on the community. The durable, low-maintenance design extends the building’s lifespan, while its flexible spaces allow for future adaptation. Local artisans and builders are employed, boosting the regional economy. Additionally, the structure’s passive cooling reduces energy costs, ensuring long-term affordability and resilience.
Aesthetic Qualities and Cultural Integration
The Nabari Maternity Center harmonizes with its environment through the use of locally sourced rammed earth, reflecting the vernacular architecture and earthy tones of the region. The design respects the cultural heritage by incorporating traditional construction techniques, fostering a deep connection with local craftsmanship. A bamboo shading screen provides a delicate contrast, adding texture while maintaining a natural aesthetic. The building’s orientation and shading strategies enhance both form and function, creating a serene and welcoming space that integrates seamlessly into its surroundings, offering dignity and beauty to the community it serves.
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