SOS Children´s Village in Tadjourah

Description

We were approached by SOS Kinderdorf for a compound of 15 houses for children, to run their family-strengthening programmes, as they are an international NGO committed to caring for children, orphaned or in need, and to provide them with a permanent home and family. The project was to take place in Tadjourah, on the coast of Djibouti, in the horn of Africa, not far from where the hottest temperature ever was recorded. This very hot and dry climate will be a determining aspect in our design solution.On the other hand, and as in many other places in Africa, there is a lack of regulations of constructions, which often leaves developers the freedom to build low quality, short-term rentable architectures, often leaving sustainability behind. For us, this freedom comes with great responsibility and it was the ideal context to design a high quality, low budget compound.After extensive research on the place, we came to a few principal points and opted for amedina-based typology. As traditionally nomads in the desert, the local residents’ relationship with open space is essential and many activities take place there. Going against the contemporary flow of minimal open space, we made sure every house had one that was private enough for it to become an integral part of the home and of everyday life. Moreover, and much like a traditional medina, the houses all look inwards: the compound is a walled quarter, providing intimacy, and a sense of community and security, well-adapted to the social and environmental context.It is a traditional typology in hot climates. Its typical narrow streets and optimal orientations are a great solution for passive and effective ventilation, to render the extreme climate habitable. We conducted a very detailed study for an optimal natural ventilation: by the orientation of alleys, the “ventilation corridors”, and by the openings, big or small, in the surfaces of the houses. In critical points, and when it wasn’t possible to have a free flow of air, we created tall ventilation shafts, which we called “wind catcher towers”: they “catch” the wind and direct it into the room, hence keeping a refreshing air flow in the interior spaces. It was experimental and turned out quite efficient.To optimize sun shading and cross-ventilation, both essential to make the climate viable, the houses follow the same scheme but are placed in relation to one another in a well-studied manner, sometimes becoming two superimposed houses, where roofs are terraces. So typical of medinas, these optimal distances are also a tool for keeping the privacy of each house: they participate in the clear definition between public and private spaces, which encourages residents to use the outdoors. Through a layout with optimal distances between houses, each open space becomes an integral part of the house, a private space with a strong relation between interior and exterior.(Description provided by Urko Sánchez Architects)