Noomdo Orphanage
Completed
2013-2016
Koudougou, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso
4,000 sqm
O.N.G. Le Soleil dans la Main (A.S.D.M.) Luxembourg
Association Dolai
Drawing inspiration from the nearby residential compounds, the Noomdo Orphanage is laid out as a series of clusters built around a communal outdoor space. The complex consists of four residential units for children, an administrative building, a shaded open-air dining hall and a workshop.
Each unit encloses its own courtyard to allow children of different age groups and gender their privacy, while the spaces between the units and the perimeter wall lend themselves to group activities. The central courtyard, slightly sunken in respect to the buildings that embrace it, is the space where communal gatherings take place. In this way, the architecture creates an array of spaces characterised by varying degrees of privacy, all within a realm that ensures the children’s safety.
The walls and outdoor flooring of the facility are made of locally sourced laterite stone, which lends them their striking deep red colour. When first extracted from the earth, laterite can be easily cut and shaped into bricks, which are then left in the sun to harden. The material provides an excellent source of thermal mass, absorbing the heavy daytime heat and radiating it at night.
The building’s window modules are specially designed to respond to several practical challenges. Each module is fitted with mosquito netting and adjustable wooden louvres made of reclaimed material. The lower section of the module features an air vent, inducing the flow of fresh air towards the inside. The double-skin roof, consisting of a shallow barrel vault ceiling with a canopy elevated on steel trusses, allows hot air to escape upwards.
Drawing inspiration from the nearby residential compounds, the Noomdo Orphanage is laid out as a series of clusters built around a communal outdoor space. The complex consists of four residential units for children, an administrative building, a shaded open-air dining hall and a workshop.
Each unit encloses its own courtyard to allow children of different age groups and gender their privacy, while the spaces between the units and the perimeter wall lend themselves to group activities. The central courtyard, slightly sunken in respect to the buildings that embrace it, is the space where communal gatherings take place. In this way, the architecture creates an array of spaces characterised by varying degrees of privacy, all within a realm that ensures the children’s safety.
The walls and outdoor flooring of the facility are made of locally sourced laterite stone, which lends them their striking deep red colour. When first extracted from the earth, laterite can be easily cut and shaped into bricks, which are then left in the sun to harden. The material provides an excellent source of thermal mass, absorbing the heavy daytime heat and radiating it at night.
The building’s window modules are specially designed to respond to several practical challenges. Each module is fitted with mosquito netting and adjustable wooden louvres made of reclaimed material. The lower section of the module features an air vent, inducing the flow of fresh air towards the inside. The double-skin roof, consisting of a shallow barrel vault ceiling with a canopy elevated on steel trusses, allows hot air to escape upwards.
