NORRSKEN KIGALI HOUSE MASS Design Group
East Africa boasts three of the world ’ s top ten fastest-growing economies but faces major challenges in attracting foreign direct investment to accelerate the growth of small and growing businesses . In partnership with MASS , Norrsken seeks to address this by launching Norrsken Kigali House , an entrepreneurship hub in Kigali , Rwanda .
The new Kigali hub is housed on the historic École Belge site in central Kigali . The École Belge de Kigali , established in 1965 , is one of the oldest international school facilities in Rwanda . With the historic classrooms and former school playgrounds at risk of being demolished for high-rise commercial use , MASS aimed to preserve the historic structure of the École Belge and illustrate how adaptive reuse could work within the neighborhood to create moments of green and public spaces .
While repurposing existing classroom blocks , the site also presented an opportunity to build a new frontage that is open , transparent , and engaging . The completed campus is comprised of four buildings and an outdoor pergola structure : three renovated École Belge classroom blocks and one newly constructed building , the main Norrsken House .
Across the site , new spaces for different scales and types of work , from large collaborative areas to quiet individual workspaces , in addition to landscaped and semi-public outdoor spaces were designed . Furniture and fittings tailored for each space were created by MASS ’ s furniture design studio . The landscape design , also led by MASS , fosters collaboration and networking opportunities beyond the building . Instead of demolition , MASS prioritized the deconstruction and reuse of materials for site benches , feature walls , and pathways . The steel of the existing gym was entirely salvaged and then reused to build the outdoor pergola event space .
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