Construction of a library
An eco-school in Casamance
Guiré Yéro Bocar is a rural commune in Casamance, an agricultural region in the south of Senegal. The new library, designed by croixmariebourdon as part of a community patronage project, is home to 15,000 textbooks and examples of literature collected from French high schools and secondary schools.
This construction involved redeveloping the school site, which was given an 8ha plot by the commune to accommodate additional educational buildings and sports facilities within a leafy campus. The new plot also includes savannah, farming land and a former quarry, which offers the opportunity for an ecological project supported by student associations. As part of a collective effort against deforestation and climate change, the aim is to create an educational wilderness area and an experimental reforestation area, supporting educational and eco-citizen activities.
This approach is part of the “Green Campus” project agreement signed with students, the educational community, local partners and Association Asseept-Casamance. With a collaborative approach and the support of volunteers from croixmariebourdon architectes associés, the intention was to create a sustainable development project for the site by 2028.
A new shadow
The current school is arranged around a rectangular courtyard surrounded by classrooms. This courtyard is arranged around multiple focal points: the majestic central mango tree which offers shadow for the school’s social activities, the entrance (reception, food) and the well (access to water).
The new library fits into the overall design by creating a new focal point of knowledge.
The circular building features a solid structure, housing the books, and an open edge looking outwards with reading spaces for students, alone or in groups. The radiating construction, which has two cross-cutting access routes, forms a hub at the heart of the future Green Campus and heralds new educational and sports facilities.
Adapted and reproducible architecture
The new construction is also reminiscent of the traditional round Fulani hut and the shadow cast around the trunk of the mango tree.
The library’s spaces sit on an overhanging base that offers privacy whilst capitalising on the natural gradient. The enclosed storage room is protected from light and heat. The librarian’s office is at the entrance to the library, directly connected to the reading areas or school offices.
The peripheral space is open and modular. It is enclosed with a krintin (woven bamboo) screen that can be modified easily. It is home to the library’s reading spaces, but also other uses depending on the time or periods of the year: meetings, conferences, shows... The area is protected from the sun and rain with a large awning.
The very simple concept and use of open and reproducible construction methods makes the Guiré Yéro Bocar high school library a prototype that can be adapted to many school facilities throughout the region.
Identifying and leveraging local expertise
Deforestation - linked for 30 years to a rise in population, the development of farming activity, uncontrolled timber felling for export and changing rainfall - has led to the disappearance of construction timber that was previously abundant. Local construction has now turned to imported industrial materials - an expensive practice due to Casamance’s isolation.
The project’s challenge was to erect a building that does not require later maintenance, whilst capitalising on local expertise and resources where possible.
The metal roof/frame offers long-lasting cover that does not require maintenance.
The storage room is built in compressed earth bricks. A local group was created by the contractor, supported by the Chamber of Trade, to train and explain an accessible and cost-effective process (local resources, no machinery).
The masonry foundation is coated in a shell screed which helped develop a high-quality and common technique at the mouth of the Casamance river.
The made-to-measure ironwork drew on existing expertise. The bookcase shelves are open to encourage reading.
Krintin is a woven bamboo wall, commonly used for temporary buildings and roofs. It is used here to create the library’s modular walls and a suspended ceiling comprising tailored curved elements.
The new construction brings together expertise which draws on regional trades.
Staying cool whilst studying
Casamance is characterised by a tropical savannah climate with dry winters. Outside the winter season, marked by abundant rain, and when the school is mostly closed, teaching takes place in dry and hot weather (40°C).
The existing industrialized school buildings trapped heat and were not usable in the afternoons. They were abandoned for the shade of the trees or the temporary krintin classrooms.
Based on this observation, the building’s design employs a bioclimatic approach to create a naturally ventilated and cool space where it is pleasant to work.
The krintin roof and walls form a raised and ventilated space away from the dust and sun. The bamboo roof, other than its acoustic role, removes the heat radiated by the steel roof.
The storage room in earth bricks benefits from significant insulation and high inertia for cooling at night. A natural ventilation system provides a pleasant air current between the movable shutters on the façade and the triangular thermal vents on the ceiling. Their design creates an original play of light.
In addition, the roof has a peripheral gutter that collects rainwater that will be used to create a school garden.
CREDITS
Project manager: CROIXMARIEBOURDON ARCHITECTES ASSOCIES, architect
Team: Thomas Bourdon, Nicolas Croixmarie, associate architects and urban planners; Louis Adamiak, Thomas Bodier, Alizée de Fauverge, Lucille Frouillou, Marie-Astrid Morin, lead architects
