A few dates about the project...

- March 2016 - Nka Foundation launches the 4th Earth Architecture Competition.

- April 2016 - We submit our design for the competition : a rammed earth library for the Village of Abetenim, in Ghana.

- July 2016 - We are laureate of the competition, and are awarded the right to go to Ghana to build our project !

- October 2016 - The association eskaapi is created

- Januar 2017 - We are gathering our strength and asking for yours to raise funds which will enable us to build the library.

- March 2017 - We will be leaving for Ghana !

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The rammed earth library

Both particularly sensitive to earth construction, we got involved in this project with the idea of bringing back ancestral building techniques into contemporary architecture.

A school’s library is a fount of knowledge, which allows students to enjoy different activities and opportunities for learning throughout the day, whether it is a peaceful break, enjoying calm reading time, or reaping the rewards of research and dynamic group activities.

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The library has been designed and structured with thick exterior rammed earth walls, insulating the interior and protecting the students from direct sunlight, constant heat, and any outside noise. The working area and the reading area are located facing a centralized landscaped patio, designed both as a courtyard as well as a room for the library.

The ground’s topography, the walls’ thickness, the thin openings, the green patio and the detached roofing are all elements which contribute to structure the inside space and create a fresh and peaceful atmosphere.

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A simple module, the building offers a place of serenity and concentration for the new school.

Building the project

The construction will take place from the 6th of March to the 28th of May 2017, in the Arts Village of Abetenim, located 40km north of Kumasi, which is second biggest town of Ghana and capital city of the Ashanti Region. The Arts Village is a place to live, create, work and learn for the population of the Region and the surrounding countries.

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The construction of the library will take 12 weeks.

First phase : digging the ground in order to pour the foundations and create the inside topography we have designed for the library. The extracted earth can then be directly used for building the walls.

Second phase : realisation of the rammed earth walls. Rammed earth is a construction technique using raw earth, compacted in a formwork in successive layers with the help of a drop hammer.

Third phase : construction of the timber framework, drawn light and thin in order to facilitate handling without the use of a lifting machine. The corrugated iron roofing will then be put on top of the wooden framework.

Fourth phase : designing the furniture for the library (working tables, stools, bookshelves). To encourage the re-use of materials, the furniture will be built using the wood from the formwork.

Qualified workers from the village (carpenters, earth builders) will help us with the construction of the library, and vonlunteers from all around the world will come to participate in the construction.

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In order to promote earth construction and facilitate access to traditional building knowledge, the project partly relies on international workshops. The idea is to create a gathering, to discover, exchange and learn with the local population, with the builders, the cooks, the professors, the children and the international volunteers !

And behind all of this...

Two architectes, a shared passion for earth construction, Rachel for its ecological aspect, and Maude for architectural heritage !

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De la Terre au Ghana