The Mwabwindo School with Selldorf Architects

Mwabwindo, Zambia 
Completed - 2019
39,000 sqft
Type: Institutional 
Role: Sara Lopergolo (Design Partner, Selldorf Architects)

The opportunity to design the 14plus Foundation’s second school in Zambia was greeted with great excitement. The charitable organization develops and builds schools and orphanages for African children in rural communities. The mandate for the project was to create a school to serve 200 primary students in southern Zambia. The school is in a rural area where travel distance to school is one of the biggest impediments to quality education. 

The building’s design was inspired by the tall, singular canopy trees on the surrounding savanna that serve as gathering spaces shaded from the sun of the Central African Plateau. The large, corrugated metal roof canopy provides shade and covering over a village of mud-brick classrooms arranged around courtyards and an internal street. Housing was also designed for eight teachers and includes a community vegetable garden and playing fields. 

Photos by Selldorf Architects, Joseph Mizzi

Recognition
• Visionary Award
• Panerai Design Miami, 2017

Selected Publications 
• Architectural Digest, 2017, 2018
• Financial Times, 2017
• The Art Newspaper, 2017
• The Architect's Newspaper, 2017
• Architectural Record, 2017