Location: Bambey, Senegal.

Architect: IDOM.

The lecture-room block project in Bambey, Senegal, was designed to respond to the harsh life conditions of the area, with a focus on shade and water. The project was an extension of the University of Bambey, catering for 1,500 students with lecture rooms, laboratories, computer rooms, and offices. The building was designed to be efficient and beautiful, with a large double roof and a great lattice on the south façade, creating a Venturi effect that generates a constant air flow between the building envelope and the lecture rooms, reducing the interior temperature by 10-15 ºC degrees. The roof is like a double skin supported by steel lattice beams, with a metal sandwich panel with insulation on top and a dropped ceiling of mineralised fibres on the inside. The south façade has a large latticework, permeable to air, which eliminates any solar incidence towards the interior and acts as a great filter of solar radiation. Citronella grass was planted in the cavity between the two skins to avoid the presence of malaria-bearing mosquitoes and to freshen up the space. The roof is extended into a 10-meter long canopy, covering a wide exterior area, sheltering students when not in class. The project also incorporated infiltration rafts with vegetation that collect rainwater by means of different-sized basalt-lined exterior canals, and a purification system by means of activated sludge allows the purification of waste waters. The façade was made up of blocks with triangular perforations that could be prefabricated in situ by the local workforce, with over a hundred workers from Bambey employed for 6 months. The project was designed to be practical and integrated into the environment whilst generating optimal conditions for protection against the extreme climate.

Photo credit: Francesco Pinton.