Quality architecture with local materials. Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture
18/03/2022.
[Koudougou] Burkina Faso
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
Travelling 75 km between the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, and the city of Koudougou in the province of Boulkiemdé requires four hours by bus. This West African city is home to two of the latest projects by Berlin-based studio Kéré Architecture, led by Burkinabe architect Diébédo Francis Kéré.
The Burkina Faso Institute of Technology and the central IT tower are the new neighbours of the Lycée Schorge high school campus in Koudougou, another of Francis Kéré's projects carried out in 2016, which dialogues with local structures.
The buildings in the area are characterized by being family farms whose buildings are organized around a patio where the cattle are collected at night, and which always have as their protagonist an essential element of the culture of the Mossi people, a large shade tree, a baobab or ceiba, in the centre.
The Burkina Faso Institute of Technology and the central IT tower are the new neighbours of the Lycée Schorge high school campus in Koudougou, another of Francis Kéré's projects carried out in 2016, which dialogues with local structures.
The buildings in the area are characterized by being family farms whose buildings are organized around a patio where the cattle are collected at night, and which always have as their protagonist an essential element of the culture of the Mossi people, a large shade tree, a baobab or ceiba, in the centre.
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Site plan. Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture.
Ground floor plan. Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture.
Elevation section. Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture.
Ventilation diagram. Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture.
Ventilation diagram. Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture.
Ventilation diagram. Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture.
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
The new 300-student facility, designed by Kéré Architecture, expands the campus, owned by the Stern Stewart Institute, (part of a US-based consultancy firm), giving high school graduates the opportunity to further their university studies (in an environment of strong demographic growth, which will double the population in the next 10 years).
"When learning occurs in spaces that inspire dreaming, things can come about that no one could have planned. It is also about creating a pleasant climate and a feel-good atmosphere of learning. Hardly anything facilitates teaching as much as good architecture."
Francis Kéré
The 2,100-square-meter building is composed of a series of repeated modules that contain classrooms, lecture halls and auxiliary spaces.
The modules are placed in a staggered formation to facilitate airflow in and around the building. Those that contain the classrooms are arranged around a rectangular courtyard at their centre.
Ventilation diagram. Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture.
The complex has an environment with 2,000 seedling trees (to insist on the preservation of local flora), planted by students, to generate an environment that is committed to climate change, as well as a rainwater catchment basin, a well and the photovoltaic of the university ensure that the campus is self-sufficient.
Kéré chose exposed concrete coloured with local clay for the walls, implying a transfer of knowledge, mixture with his knowledge of traditional building materials and techniques, using for other walls screens of eucalyptus wood (an Australian import that is displacing native tree species), each 10 centimetres thick, that in the case of the BIT are a kind of brise-soleil, joining the individual buildings together to form approximately a community of element.
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Burkina Institute of Technology by Kéré Architecture. Photograph by Jaime Herraiz
Project description by Kéré Architecture
After a successful collaboration with Kéré Architecture on the construction of the Lycée Schorge, the Stern Stewart Institute decided to expand its campus with the commission of a new facility that would allow high school graduates to continue their education.
The Burkina Institute of Technology is designed using a system of repeated modules, housing classrooms and auxiliary functions, arranged orthogonally to define a rectangular courtyard. The orthogonal arrangement of modules allows the campus to expand incrementally according to its needs. The modules are staggered, allowing air to flow through the central void, creating a cool space where students can relax and interact.
Building on the experience acquired at the Naaba Belem Goumma Secondary School, the walls are made of poured local clay, cast in-situ. This innovative method meant construction could be completed within a tight timeframe, using large formworks that allowed an entire module to be poured in one session. Although the classrooms need mechanical air conditioning because of the IT equipment, the massive clay walls contribute significantly to cooling down the interior spaces.
The repetitive roof profiles create a dynamic rhythm and form a chimney at the back of each module where built-up warm air can be released. Hung ceilings, made of local eucalyptus wood, brighten the interior spaces and complement the smooth clay walls.
To create a sense of unity with the rest of the campus, the buildings are clad in a transparent skin of eucalyptus wood to match the Lycée Schorge.
Located on a flood plain, the project included extensive landscaping work to protect the buildings. During the rainy season, water is channelled into a large underground tank that is later used to irrigate the extensive mango plantations on the campus.
More information
Architects
Kéré Architecture. Led architect.- Diébédo Francis Kéré.
Design team
Jaime Herraiz Martínez, Andrea Maretto.
Contributors.- Juan Carlos Zapata, Valentin Billhardt.
Construction supervision.- Diébédo Francis Kéré, Nataniel Sawadogo, Jaime Herraiz Martínez.
Landscape design.- Kéré Architecture.
Contributors.- Juan Carlos Zapata, Valentin Billhardt.
Construction supervision.- Diébédo Francis Kéré, Nataniel Sawadogo, Jaime Herraiz Martínez.
Landscape design.- Kéré Architecture.
Client
Stern Stewart Institute & Friends.
Area
Plot.- 2,100 sqm.
GFA.- 1,000 sqm.
GFA.- 1,000 sqm.
Dates
2018-2020.
Location
Koudougou, Burkina Faso.
Photography
Jaime Herraiz for Kéré Architecture.
Diébédo Francis Kéré
Diébédo Francis Kéré (b.1965, in Gando, Burkina Faso, west Africa) trained at the Technical University of Berlin in Germany, started his Berlin based practice, Kéré Architecture, in 2005. Kéré Architecture has been recognised nationally and internationally with awards, including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture (2004) for his first building, a primary school in Gando, Burkina Faso; LOCUS Global Award for Sustainable Architecture (2009); Global Holcim Award Gold (2011 and 2012); Green Planet Architects Award (2013); Schelling Architecture Foundation Award (2014); and the Kenneth Hudson Award –European Museum of the Year (2015).
Projects undertaken by Francis Kéré span countries, including Burkina Faso,Mali, China, Mozambique, Kenya, Togo, Sudan, Germany and Switzerland. He has taught internationally, including the Technical University of Berlin, and he has held professorships at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and Accademia di Architettura di Mendriso in Switzerland.
Kéré’s work has recently been the subject of solo exhibitions: Radically Simple at the Architecture Museum, Munich (2016) and The Architecture of Francis Kéré: Building for Community, Philadelphia Museum of Art (2016). His work has also been selected for group exhibitions: Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2010) and Sensing Spaces, Royal Academy, London (2014).
Among his main works are the Primary School (2001) and the Library (under construction) of Gando, Burkina Faso; the Health and Social Promotion Center (2014) and the Opera Village (under construction), both in Laongo, Burkina Faso; the Satellite of the Volksbühne Theater at the Tempelhof Airport, in Berlin (temporary installation, 2016); or the Pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery of the year 2017.
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