Nairobi Waldorf School, Nairobi, Kenya

A village for kids hidden in the woods.

The project was commissioned by a Waldorf school in Nairobi. These centres have a very close relationship with Nature and are based on Anthroposophy. It is not a humanitarian aid project, but rather a school project that had to be built quickly and economically.

The idea was to build a small village for children scattered in the woods, maintaining the old house that already existed on the site to allocate other classrooms and services. The available land was a forest of different native species of crying trees and our goal was to build the school in the most respectful way possible with Nature. For this reason, the classrooms were designed as a dispersed town, seeking clearings in the forest to locate the buildings. The classrooms have soft and organic shapes like most vernacular architectures in Kenya.

The idea was for the students to be very connected with nature and the forest, so we decided to build “living walls”, filling the gap between two polycarbonate sheets with excavated soil and a second layer with leaves from the forest. This technique solved the speed and economy required by the client, while the transparency of the polycarbonate allowed the interior of the walls and all the life that appears in it to be seen: ants, bugs, plants, roots, and everything else that occurs while the reflections of the material bring light and colours into the space. Living walls that change over time allow students to observe biodiversity within the earth up close and convert the classroom into an active environment.

The construction system can be easily customized and done in collaboration with children, parents and teachers. As far as possible, the materials from the previous classrooms that had to be dismantled were recycled: wooden floors and walls became parapets, tiles became boundaries for paths, etc.

Location
Nairobi, Kenya

Year
2023

Client
Waldorf School

Area
–

Status
Completed