The project revolves around the dry and safe storage of food and its consumption. The centre of the building is therefore the storage room, which is surrounded by layers of spaces and functions connected to it.
To the south, the kitchen for preparing meals opens up to the outside space; to the north, the building's perimeter wall encloses the large dining room, which in turn can serve as a classroom if necessary.
Both functions are connected by corridors that, on the one hand, climatically isolate the storage room from the outside space and, on the other, structure the flow of movement within the structure.
The large raised roof, cantilevered in all directions, has three functions: it provides as much shade as possible against the scorching sun, protects the wall bricks from the weather and allows natural ventilation of the interior.
The compact building measures just under 4 metres in height, 8 metres in width and over 16 metres in length.
The storage room can safely store up to 3 tonnes of grain, the kitchen employs 8 women and in the dining room a community of 80 people can share their meals.
Client — GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit)
Program — School canteen
Completion — Construction to begin in May 2023
Size — 150 m2 - 1615 ft2
Location — Zinder, Niger
Collaborators — Buro Milan (structural engineers), Cabinet Adobe (local partner)
Services — Architectural design, construction administration