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Secondary School in Malawi
Secondary School in Malawi
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Other Projects by Burckhardt+Partner
Secondary School in Malawi
Firm
Type
STATUS
Concept
SIZE
10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft
BUDGET
$10K - 50K
`It takes a village to raise a child‘
We believe, as the old African proverb says, that it takes more than walls, roofs and books to educate a child, it takes a whole community. That’s how we see St. Paul’s new secondary school – As a settlement for development and growth. A settlement – A village - that embraces its community – St. Peter’s parish & primary school – facing them and inviting them to grow together. We are not only building a school, but a village.
The village is an agglomeration of different uses: classrooms, dormitories, houses… and though the program may vary, all parts are built in the same way. They are all variations or combinations of one single constructive unity. The unity was thought through respecting local resources and traditions.
The walls are built out of compressed clay bricks, made by members of the community. The bricks are 20 x 40 x 20 cm and the walls are 40 cm thick when load bearing walls and 20 cm as partition walls – though part of the partitions are thought of as furniture elements to save space. The load bearing walls, 2.80 m to 8.80m apart from each other support 2.80 m wide ceramic vaults upon them. The vaults are also thought of as a module that can be put together as many times as necessary depending on each specific building. The vaults have a length of up to 8.80 m and therefore are tied down by concrete beams. The vaults themselves are covered by a light metal truss supporting a tin metal roof that ensures both water and heat protection: rain water protection added to rain water harvesting and air circulation added to sun reflection. The tin roof is also the platform necessary for the solar panels and therefore the modules are placed so that most roofs face north for optimal solar exposure. The tin roofs also provide the necessary shading for the mainly east and west windows. The windows are also made of 20 x 20 cm. ceramic hollow elements to be glazed to complement the earth like materials used. The floor follows a terracotta palette and is made of compressed soil according to local traditions and techniques. Walls and vaults could be eliminated for more open spaces such as the dining room or multipurpose space.
The aim is to profit from local resources and techniques and add technological thinking into the process, in order to develop an easy to build matrix that could be efficiently applied when and wherever it is needed. Here the radial settlement concept plays a big role as it allows you to build gradually when necessary but following a well-orchestrated sequence, so one feels the school growing.
The radial organization of the program follows the existing topography and allows the heart of the plot to open-up to St. Paul’s community. In this ‘heart zone’ a sports courtyard is placed to serve the whole community and to bring it together. Behind the welcoming sports courtyard, the open multipurpose space works not only as a gathering and performing space, it also articulates the school around communion. Classrooms and complementary programs of the school are equally distributed to the left and right sides to promote exchange and constant use of both the courtyard and the multipurpose space. Behind the multipurpose space but still part of the so-called heart of the plot is the dining and home-work space, articulating but also separating male and female dormitories. The future classrooms would follow on a second ring.
The professors villa, built on the third and fourth rings, is equal to the whole school complex. The houses face each other in a more introspective way and generates a ‘micro-community’ feeling. Each house has its own private courtyard for laundry and cooking.
Burckhardt+Partner
Design Team: Christoph Frey, Wolfgang Hardt, Jonathan Howell Davies, Daniela Pochetto, Gerda Callista
GRP Ingenieure
Aleksander Ribic
We believe, as the old African proverb says, that it takes more than walls, roofs and books to educate a child, it takes a whole community. That’s how we see St. Paul’s new secondary school – As a settlement for development and growth. A settlement – A village - that embraces its community – St. Peter’s parish & primary school – facing them and inviting them to grow together. We are not only building a school, but a village.
The village is an agglomeration of different uses: classrooms, dormitories, houses… and though the program may vary, all parts are built in the same way. They are all variations or combinations of one single constructive unity. The unity was thought through respecting local resources and traditions.
The walls are built out of compressed clay bricks, made by members of the community. The bricks are 20 x 40 x 20 cm and the walls are 40 cm thick when load bearing walls and 20 cm as partition walls – though part of the partitions are thought of as furniture elements to save space. The load bearing walls, 2.80 m to 8.80m apart from each other support 2.80 m wide ceramic vaults upon them. The vaults are also thought of as a module that can be put together as many times as necessary depending on each specific building. The vaults have a length of up to 8.80 m and therefore are tied down by concrete beams. The vaults themselves are covered by a light metal truss supporting a tin metal roof that ensures both water and heat protection: rain water protection added to rain water harvesting and air circulation added to sun reflection. The tin roof is also the platform necessary for the solar panels and therefore the modules are placed so that most roofs face north for optimal solar exposure. The tin roofs also provide the necessary shading for the mainly east and west windows. The windows are also made of 20 x 20 cm. ceramic hollow elements to be glazed to complement the earth like materials used. The floor follows a terracotta palette and is made of compressed soil according to local traditions and techniques. Walls and vaults could be eliminated for more open spaces such as the dining room or multipurpose space.
The aim is to profit from local resources and techniques and add technological thinking into the process, in order to develop an easy to build matrix that could be efficiently applied when and wherever it is needed. Here the radial settlement concept plays a big role as it allows you to build gradually when necessary but following a well-orchestrated sequence, so one feels the school growing.
The radial organization of the program follows the existing topography and allows the heart of the plot to open-up to St. Paul’s community. In this ‘heart zone’ a sports courtyard is placed to serve the whole community and to bring it together. Behind the welcoming sports courtyard, the open multipurpose space works not only as a gathering and performing space, it also articulates the school around communion. Classrooms and complementary programs of the school are equally distributed to the left and right sides to promote exchange and constant use of both the courtyard and the multipurpose space. Behind the multipurpose space but still part of the so-called heart of the plot is the dining and home-work space, articulating but also separating male and female dormitories. The future classrooms would follow on a second ring.
The professors villa, built on the third and fourth rings, is equal to the whole school complex. The houses face each other in a more introspective way and generates a ‘micro-community’ feeling. Each house has its own private courtyard for laundry and cooking.
Burckhardt+Partner
Design Team: Christoph Frey, Wolfgang Hardt, Jonathan Howell Davies, Daniela Pochetto, Gerda Callista
GRP Ingenieure
Aleksander Ribic
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