African project
rpose Hall at St. Bernard’s Secondary School – Uganda
T
he building, located
in Mannya village in
Southern Uganda, was
funded by the Cotton
On Foundation (www.
cottononfoundation.
org) from Australia who
are actively investing
in the construction
of educational
infrastructure in the districts of
Rakai and Lwengo as part of their
charitable work. Amongst the
projects previously funded by COF
in Southern Uganda, is the Ross
Langdon Health Education Centre
(read about the project HERE)
Three curved steps create an
amphitheatre that follows the
gentle slope of the site and is both
suitable for stage performances and
communal events in which everyone
relates to everyone. With a depth
of 2.7m the bench-height steps are
also wide enough to accommodate
dining tables and benches, arranged
perpendicular to the step edges,
providing an acceptable compromise
between the differing functional
requirements of a dining hall and an
assembly space.
A potpourri of locally available
materials (clay bricks, tiles and
stone slates) are stacked up in layers
to clad the tilted reinforced concrete
columns. Hovering above is a 21m
spanning metal roof, with the curved
kitchen building tucked under which
also forms the stage backdrop.
With its wedge-shaped roof planes
installed at two different angles,
natural daylight ingresses through
narrow triangular strips of vertical
translucent roofing sheets, softening
the sharp contrast between outdoor
and indoor light and creating a
playful composition of sunlight.
To improve acoustics and as an
affordable way of softening the
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