Gando Primary School

The Gando Primary School was built to expand the sparse network of schools in the province of Boulgou, in the east of Burkina Faso, and addressed two characteristic problems of many educational buildings in the area: poor lighting and ventilation. In order to achieve sustainability, the project was based on the principles of designing for climatic comfort with low-cost construction, making the most of local materials and the potential of the local community, and adapting technology from the industrialized world in a simple way. Underlying the project was a strong didactic component: it was designed as an exemplar that would raise awareness in the local community of the merits of traditional materials, updated with simple techniques that would need few new skills. The school building includes three volumes, each containing a classroom measuring 7 x 9 metres, connected by a single roof make up the basic structure of the building, and each one of them accommodates one classroom for fifty students.

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Overheating Prevention

Building overheating is an increased risk in a changing climate, and is influenced by outdoor environmental conditions, the design of the building, internal production of heat and occupant behaviour. Overheating affects the health and well-being of people, especially older and vulnerable people and can lead to increased injustices and can cause increased mortality. Key strategies to prevent overheating that you should include in your project is to first and foremost ensure all sources of overheating are tackled first and risks minimised. Then provide green, blue and social infrastructure at macro, meso, and micro-scale (building-scale). The design of the building should also include: light coloured surfaces, careful building form, orientation and design of windows, efficient fabric with summer solar shading and appropriate (night) ventilation strategies.

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