African Urban School: a new center for Enko Education

African Urban School: a new center for Enko Education

-introduction
·Archstorming’s new competition takes us to Bamako, Mali. We will be looking for designs to build a new school in an urban context for Enko Education, a fast-growing network of African international schools that offers affordable quality education in order to provide access for young Africans to the best universities worldwide. Enko has a total of 15 schools and aims to open 45 more in at least 20 African countries over the next five years. In order to do so, they are looking for an innovative architectural design that will be used in their expansion across the continent, solving their school infrastructure challenges.This contest will be focused on their next school, that will be located in Bamako, the capital of Mali, a landlocked country of western Africa. The city has a population of 2.6 million but it is projected to surpass 13 million by 2050, which means that a good network of urban schools will be needed by then.
-challenge
·Enko will be building a new Primary and Secondary school for 550 students in Bamako and this contest will look for designs for it. We are seeking for a project that can become Enko’s distinctive image. An architectural concept that can be used not only in this project, but also in their future developments across Africa.The plot has an approximate area of 1.670 m2 and is located in the heart of Bamako, between residential buildings. The school area will be divided between a Primary School, a Secondary School, the administrative space and the common spaces. All the specific information can be found in the briefing of the competition.The main challenges of this contest are
(1) to look for a building that represent Enko’s values (care, path making, commitment and team spirit),
(2) are realistic and respectful with the materials and construction techniques of the area,
(3) prioritize the safety of people,
(4) are environmentally conscious and
(5) can adapt to the future growth of the schools.