African Design Magazine June 2016 | Page 14

African project Swawou School for Girls – Sierra Leone challenges and difficulties, a building that had stood neglected and forlorn for two years, now stands proud and gleaming in the west African sun. It is a long way ahead to get the country fully back on its feet and striding forwards, and further still, to transforming its global image, however, in this case a new building has opened its doors to a cohort of excited young school students, offering new jobs to the local community, and might just stand for something far more than the materials it’s built from. Orkidstudio works to benefit communities worldwide through innovative architecture, construction and social enterprise. They believe that creativity has the power to inspire and instil pride within people regardless of race, nationality or circumstance and they use architecture, design and enterprise as tools for relieving poverty and transforming lives. Their projects focus on the process of design and construction, rather than just the final product, and they believe this process is a powerful tool for affecting social change and empowering people through the sharing of skills and knowledge on site. The building process