Malawi Masterplan

In the hills on the edge of Lilongwe, Malawi, 170 hectares of land are dedicated to a new campus for the Miracle for Africa Foundation, an initiative to expand healthcare*, education, and agricultural education. The campus masterplan, inspired by Batik paintings of a local Malawian artist, creates a condensed pedestrian campus positioned strategically in relation to its existing buildings.

The first building for the new campus is a central library providing 6,600 m² of space for books, archives, reading rooms, classrooms, offices and an open forum.   The architectural aim: to bring in the maximum of cool natural light while powering the building via solar energy. An ascending array of roof elements each have a gentle curve, like the wind moving across a field, giving orientation to the interior spaces. The flexible solar panels along the roof create an ecological engine, supplying energy to the library itself and other campus buildings. A locally crafted bamboo screen enclosure allows the entire library to breathe with natural ventilation and net-zero energy consumption, while a few free floating glass rooms control humidity.