Simba Vision Montessori School
Ngabobo Village is located in Tanzania’s remote northern savanna, just 3 degrees south of the equator. Having a subtropical highland climate with mild annual temperatures ranging between 18 and 23°C, the plains between Mt Meru and Mt Kilimanjaro lie at an altitude of approximately 1100 m. The mountainous landscape sets the breath-taking backdrop of this project. These plains are inhabited by Meru and Maasai communities, tribes which are currently slowly shifting from a traditional, semi-nomadic lifestyle based on herding cattle to a life in permanent settlements, with irrigated agriculture and motorised transportation.
In 2019, Africa Amini Alama, a local NGO which has been active in healthcare and education, called for a design competition to develop one of their existing schools into a Montessori campus consisting of an additional primary school, Children’s House, workshops and dormitories for students and teachers. Partnering with the Arthur Waser Foundation of Lucerne/Switzerland, the occasion was used as an opportunity to test a first prototype of a 28 pattern ‘Design Instrument’ for Montessori architecture.
The Montessori architectural patterns are incorporated into the design in correspondence with the environmental and social-cultural values of the Maasai area. The 28 patterns led to a number of notable key decisions, which, in turn, fit seamlessly with the conditions of the place and the needs of the community.
The remote location of the site, and the ambition to operate with an ecologically low impact, led to a simple block wall construction, which consists of volcanic rock and sand, naturally available on site in an ideal mix. Blocks consist of only 10 per cent of cement and walls are constructed without the need for additional reinforcement. Interior spaces are partly clad with straw and mud to improve comfort and acoustics, a technique traditionally carried out by Maasai women. The use of steel is reserved for the roof, which acts as sunshade and rainwater harvester. The mild year-round climate allows for the building to operate without mechanical cooling or heating and with a minimum of artificial but activity-based lighting. A combination of natural ventilation, sun shading and thermal mass ensure thermal comfort.
As a reaction to the harsh winds and the natural orientation of the site, the buildings are arranged in two parallel North-South alignments, with a roofed entrance from the East, between the workshop and Children’s House. The two strings of buildings form a tree shaded greeting space dominated by a large sunken amphitheatre. Separate toilet buildings on both ends of the open space can be reached by a short stroll under the trees and along the theatre. A stream flowing along the site's western perimeter provides water to the small farm run by teachers and pupils. A line of unusually large trees at the fringe of the stream resonates with the building's orientation and height.
Unique for the area, the Simba Vision buildings develop over more than one storey. A few steps up mark the plinths of the houses, which like an artificial topography of natural stones stretch into the entrance halls with raised ceilings. Inside the learning spaces, further steps lead up to the adjacent niches, where lower ceiling heights create appropriate spatial proportions. Steps between different levels are designed to be sat, played and worked on. The entrance halls and staircases become versatile spaces for social interaction and learning. As a spatial attraction, two-story open shelves for books and learning materials are embedded into the entrance walls.
From the open-air greeting space with the theatre down to snug reading niches, students and teachers enjoy a range of public and private, common and individual, exposed and sheltered places. Along with the design and construction of the school buildings, the provision of potable water was arranged, too. Wall fountains are distributed close to every room. The children’s kitchen with its outside food preparation area includes the children in the processes of cooking, serving, washing up and cleaning.
In the interior, a series of connected but specific spaces characterise the school. The walls are rotated at an angle of 45° to the main orientation of the structures and clearly identify every room as a distinct space already from outside. The geometry of 45° angles creates an array of visually protected corners, whereby the individual users of these corners form smaller groups within the class community. Rooms are aligned like pearls on a string without the need for typical corridors and can therefore be connected according to programmatic needs. Connection between rooms can be gradually opened or closed through generously proportioned sliding doors.
Buildings allow for free circulation from outside and within, encouraging interaction between interior and exterior garden area. Transitions are designed to be gradual, taking full advantage of the mild climate. At all entrances the plinth protrudes towards the surroundings forming transitional terraces for a variety of activities. The large roof overhang further blurs the border between buildings and landscape, providing sheltered outdoor spaces and drawing visitors from the open spaces into its shade.
The ample school campus has no fenced perimeter. Paths leading to the main entrances and the greetings space fade out into the landscape where the number of children walking on them gradually diminish. A large football pitch and playing area on the Eastern plot boundary forms a spatial counterpart to the children’s gardens and stables, opposite.
Team
APC Architectural Pioneering Consultants with Wolfgang Rossbauer | Cooperation competition stage with Udo Thönnissen and Lorenz Eugster | Collaborators (a.o.): Ingrid Rasmussen (project lead design), Doreen Fred (project lead execution), Petrina Salema, Dark Gummich, Lucas Sager | Civil/structural engineers: GMP consulting engineers, Mike Leach, Nakheel Osman | Client: Africa Amini Alama, Dr. Cornelia Wallner-Frisee | User: Africa Amini Alama and Tanzania Ministry of Education | Financing: Arthur Waser Foundation
