Sustainable Education Ghana

Our project to design and build a schoolhouse in Sogakope, Ghana came from a partnership with Voices of African Mothers. The building will be part of VAM Girls Academy; a project being developed by Voices of African Mothers to address the need for improved education and vocational training in Sogakope and surrounding areas.

The team is completely lead by students with the guidance of professor advisories in both the Architecture and Systems Engineering Department. The architects form part of a greater team consisting of engineers, computer scientists, and designers.

Throughout, every member contributed to the overall design concept of the schoolhouse. We first went through many different iterations of the schoolhouse design through small group design charrettes. Then the architecture students finalized the design concept while the remainder of the team developed systems for water collection, heating, cooling, and energy. Regular architecture critiques were held with the SEG team and professors to not only emphasize such key characteristics as practicality and functionality but also the takeaways gained through the extensive human-centered design research.

The resulting design reflects our commitment to traditional Ghanaian architecture, sustainable and ecological exploration, and emphasis on the emotional needs of the student.

Research and Design phase completed Fall 2015/ Spring 2016

Currently ongoing: fundraising/construction