African project:
Nakuru Project
COMMUNITY
Built with a diverse group from a small Kikuyu community in the rapidly
developing agricultural outskirts of Nakuru, Kenya, humanitarian design
organisation, Orkidstudio, have recently completed a new home which will
house local disadvantaged and abandoned children.
C
hallenging the typology of the typical African orphanage where children sleep en mass in
large dormitories, the new home limits each room to just four children providing ample
space and natural light, and is characterised by a range of different social spaces from
open communal areas to quiet nooks and crannies offering space to study, read or simply
relax.
Orkidstudio, whose focus is to benefit children and communities worldwide, operate with
the belief that the process of design and construction can be a powerful tool for affecting
social change and empowering people through the sharing of skills and knowledge on site.
The local area is widely populated with stone and concrete houses, many of which are typically left
incomplete as their owners struggle to fund the materials to complete each phase. In response, the new
home, known as the St Jerome’s Centre, is made from earthbags, utilising the large quantities of soil
generated from foundation, sanitation and rainwater storage excavation. The local soil, which has around
20% clay content, is packed into everyday grain bags and laid like oversized bricks to create deep, durable
walls which also effectively absorb heat from the sun, helping regulate temperatures during the cooler
nights.
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africandesignmagazine.com