Numerous countries across Africa and Latin America share similar social contexts. One such challenge is the difficulty of accessing remote regions and poorly managed resources, which results in shortages for rural communities. A team from Colombia has won the competition to design innovative, low-cost construction techniques to replace a temporary school with permanent structures in Senegal.
The practice SOMStudio, with a team led by architects Santiago Osorio, Carlos Peña, and Mauricio Suarez, won the Senegal Elementary School competition organized by Archstorming.
Sponsored by Let’s Build My School (LBMS), the competition "aimed to inspire people to build their own homes using the same technique once construction on the school was completed," according to SOMStudio.
Below is the project description submitted by the winning team:
Core Project Concept
What is architecture's commitment to developing regions? Starting from this question, we set out to develop a project that weaves society together, benefits the entire community, and is embraced as an important member of it. To this end, the design proposes an outdoor space that welcomes the community—a small public plaza open to all that serves as an extension of the school. This space connects to the library and the cafeteria, allowing both facilities to serve a dual purpose by offering services to both students and the wider community.
General Description
The project is designed on a single level to reduce construction costs. The layout is organized around a central courtyard, adjacent to which is the circulation area. All spaces are laid out to maximize the available footprint. Next to the cafeteria, a second open space is designated for a school garden, facilitating the sourcing of ingredients for the kitchen.
Construction Process
Foundations: A continuous foundation made of sacks filled with clay, sand, and cement is proposed to achieve optimal load transfer to the ground.
Enclosure: The walls are made of blocks manufactured on-site using Cinva Ram machines. A custom mold was added to this machine to allow the blocks to interlock, eliminating the need for mortar. These compressed blocks also provide sufficient thermal mass to keep the interiors cool. The wooden doors and windows feature lattices that allow air circulation even when closed. This, combined with the slope of the roofs, helps draw warm air out of the building.
Roofing: The roofs are subdivided into independent sections. Each roof rests directly on the walls via a timber beam system, allowing for large, column-free spaces tailored to the size of each classroom. The roofs connect to a gutter system that collects rainwater for underground storage.
Throughout every step of the process, we sought to maximize the potential of each material to obtain the greatest economic, practical, and thermal comfort benefits, while also creating a distinctive identity for the project.
This article was written by Santiago Baraya. The translation is powered by AI.
