Project: Adult Education College, Africa
Location: Kajo Keji, Sudan, Africa
Location Challenges: This building is located in Kajo Kaji in Africa, in the Central Equatorian region of Sudan. The wars that have occurred and are still ongoing in parts of the west have destroyed many of the educational facilities and public buildings. As a result, adult education has been severely neglected, so there is a shortage of many trained people to carry on work in the region. This project aims to redress this, and in particular, provide training for women.
Innovation: The brief was for an innovative design for an adult education facility in Sudan, Africa. It was to be as self-sufficient as possible, and provide teaching facilities for up to approximately 1200 students, with the potential for expansion to 3000 students. The building needed to be constructed as simply as possible, making it easy to build with unskilled labour.
Design Aspects: A group of people from the region came to Australia to do degree courses in various disciplines. Whilst in Australia, they met and formed a consortium to design a new college and educational campus. The students, now in their thirties, have now returned to Sudan to start constructing the school. The college offers a range of training opportunities, including nursing, child care, trade skills and in particular, the training of teachers to fill the huge shortage there.
Environmental Innovation: It has been constructed in sections and had to use only local trades and material. Plenty of ventilation was required to cope with local weather, solar panels from Uganda were used and substantial security installed.
Specialist Expertise: EnvironArc has assisted the consortium with the design and provided ideas for funding. Local and government sources have been supportive, and funds have been forthcoming. The land has been gifted to the group by the local chief who owns all the land in the location, and the project has had the support of all the local people. We are proud to be associated with this project, and see it through from the initial idea to the building being completed.
