Spurred by the Government of Rwanda's desire to set national standards for early childhood educational buildings, Kigali-based ASA Studio (that's Active Social Architecture) designed this color-doused pre-primary school, calling on community members and cheap local materials to build a place designed to help "the children's gross motor, language skills, social interaction and knowledge development," or so write the architects. As one of five working prototypes hoping to set the standard for schools for children under six across the nation, Gasanze Preprimary School is built to engage students by way of texture (reed and fired brick and corrugated metal), color (orange and highlighter yellow and sky blue), shape (pentagonal tables, build-in social circles, gridded rectangle window panels), and pattern (pinhole patches in the brick facade also help air circulate).
Of course, the nitty-gritty practicalities are addressed as well: there's a playground, a water harvesting system, clean water access points, and "separate safe toilets." The primary brick material helps the building "fit with the village fabric," the architects write, while the reed-lined ceilings keep the heat absorbed by metal roofing from being trapped inside, as well as dull the sounds of rain.
A few more shots are below, but head to Arch Daily for the full set.
· Pre-Primary School by Asa Studio [Arch Daily]
· All Schools posts [Curbed National]