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Architects: Article 25
- Area: 1020 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Toby Pear, Paulina-Shari Stanley
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Manufacturers: Power Providers
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Lead Architect: Toby Pear
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Civil Engineering: WSP Norge, WSP
Article 25 have completed Phase 1 of an ‘off-grid’ Children’s Village in Boma Ng’ombe, Tanzania - Article 25 have been working with Tanzanian/Irish charity Tír na nÓg to design a new Children’s Village in the Kilimanjaro region of northern Tanzania for 60 children. Phase 1 construction was completed in early 2023 and comprises 3 cottages for groups of children, each with its own live-in ‘Mama’, along with a large social block with a dining terrace, kitchen, games room, library, and laundry facilities.
The buildings house spaces for all moods and all times of day - cozy spaces for sleep, rest, and study, with more expansive and open spaces for play and socializing. The village is designed as a safe place where children of different ages can grow and develop together.
Highly sustainable, off-grid development - The design responds to the climate by providing generous overhangs to protect from sun and heavy rains. Courtyards at the center of the cottages enable cross ventilation to all the dorms and living spaces. The butterfly roof of the dining block shades a series of external spaces – dining terrace, laundry area, and a gathering porch outside the kitchen – and allows cross ventilation as well as dual or triple aspect internal spaces.
The village is designed to be highly sustainable and is operable entirely ‘off-grid’. All power is generated using solar PV panels, all water is provided by a borehole on site and then heated using solar hot water heaters, and the waste is filtered via septic tanks and a constructed wetland. These sustainability features allow the village to run at minimal costs while protecting its natural resources and ensuring the Children’s Village will continue to provide to children in this area for decades to come.
Local materials and construction techniques have been prioritized throughout, with low-carbon technologies to the fore. The roof trusses are of timber, as are the doors and windows. Upper walls are clad in locally-sourced sisal poles, and the bricks come from nearby kilns fired using rice husks, an agricultural waste product.
More Than a Building - Article 25 worked with a team of Tanzanian and international experts to develop the proposals for the Children’s Village. MHA Structural Design, Hoare Lea, and WSP are part of a pool of engineers, architects, developers, and constructors that make-up Article 25’s ‘More Than a Building’ network, and have provided pro-bono engineering (structural, MEP, and civil, respectively) for the project. Article 25 Managing Director Gemma Holding said ‘the pro-bono input we receive from our More Than a Building partner brings world-leading expertise to projects such as Kao La Amani Children’s Village and helps to leave a lasting legacy in those communities we serve’.
Phase 2 of the Children’s Village is now under construction and will add more living accommodations, an admin building, staff and guest housing, and extensive landscaping.
