Jury comments: Nestled into a mountainside in Burundi, Africa, this 18-bed housing facility combines regional aesthetics with off-the-grid sustainability. Oversized public porch doors seamlessly connect inside and out while the private sleeping rooms, each with its own vividly colored entry porch, echo the semipermeable sensitivity. The porches, which offer three-sided ventilation, eliminate the need for air conditioning. Sited partially below grade, the building takes advantage of the earth’s natural insulation. Powered exclusively by a nearby solar array, the structure is 100 percent off the grid. The project was built with local materials by the villagers it supports. This is a wonderful concept that “does it all” in an acceptable, sensitive way, though we wished for more quantifiable evidence of the social and ecological sustainability promised by the text.
Client: Village Health Works
Consultants: Liam O’Hanlon Engineering; Plus Group Consulting Engineers; Gam Kagan Global Procurement; Construction Management: Curtis Bertrand, Roy Greenwald, Matt Krupanski, Astere Niyonkuru
