Teach on the Beach
Competition Works
Finalist
Summer 2023
This project expansion of the education center in Busua, Ghana. The design follows three principles: modularity, development, and passive design. It facilitates teaching, activities, and living while conforming to the functions of gathering and dwelling.
Regarding the site condition, the architecture will gradually be completed using modular units, progressing from the depth of the site towards the access point. These units will primarily consist of timber structures with pitched roofs. Combined with rammed earth or perforated compressed earth block walls and concrete foundations, they form the building’s structure. The top of the modules would be enveloped by a thatched roof that conforms to the existing classroom. Enclosures on the sides are completed with louvered windows and doors. Furthermore, several openings would be reserved for additional decorations that would be completed as a part of the creativity and skill education of the site, eventually completing the architecture by the activity and the people.
As for a macroscopic scale of planning, each unit would be gradually completed that accommodates different stages of development. The volunteers’ dwelling would be built in the part that is most distant to the access point, which would be completed first and remote from the later site for activities. Then, the additional classroom would be constructed next to the existing one to form the teaching quarter of the site. The planting in the garden could also be created to initiate production on the site and form a division between dwelling and activities. Then, programs for activities would be built closer to the access road, creating an open space between them and the living quarter. Finally, the elevated structure would be built with the least demanded living room beneath it.
Furthermore, as for the passive strategies, the variation in the modular units considers the building’s relationship with the West African Monsoon, with a blow from the southwest. The two various heights of modular units would allow cross ventilation in the buildings parallel to the wind, while capped openings would be created for ones perpendicular to such orientation. Windows, louvers, and perforated walls also allow ventilation happens in lower levels. Additional wood roofings for shading would be placed on the east side of the building if the trees are absent. The pitched roof also allows the installment of solar panels, and one concave above the agglomeration of the kitchen and bathrooms would allow the collection of rainwater.
