Text courtesy of The Pritzker Architecture Prize.
Burkina Institute of Technology is a result of the success of Lycée Schorge Secondary School, offering not only an extension of the campus, but post-secondary academic opportunities. “[It] is designed using a system of repeated modules, housing classrooms and auxiliary functions, arranged orthogonally to define a rectangular courtyard. The orthogonal arrangement of staggered modules allows the campus to expand incrementally according to its needs and air to flow through the central void, creating a space where the students can relax and interact.” The facility is composed of cooling clay walls that were cast in-situ to accelerate the building process. Overhanging eucalyptus, regarded as inefficient due to its minimal shading abilities yet depletion of nutrients from the soil, were repurposed to line the angled corrugated metal roofs, which protect the building during the country’s brief rainy reason. Rainwater is collected underground to irrigate mango plantations on the premises.
