Earth Render

The bricks have been rendered to protect them from weathering. The render is made from the earth from the site and mixed with cement.

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Bamboo material

Bamboo is a locally available material in Dwabor and can be used in many elements of construction. In this classroom it can be seen being used in the window louvres, as a plywood for the doors, as a cladding material on the east and west elevations and as a ceiling finish internally.

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Hardwood

A hardwood, Dahoma, has been used to construct the roof structure and the window frames. Dahoma is locally sourced and is very dense which makes it difficult for termites to eat it. For this reason, it will have a longer life span in the building and will require less maintenance.

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Coconut Insulation

Between the roof covering (aluminium sheeting) and the internal ceiling finish (split bamboo painted white) there are sacks made from nylon mesh which have been filled with the fibre from coconut shells. The fibre acts as an acoustic damper to reduce the noise of the rain impact on the roof and also provides thermal insulation from the metal roof which reduces the radiation from the hot roof into the classroom and keeps it cooler.

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Mud Bricks (Stabilised Soil Bricks)

All the bricks in the building (behind the earth render) have been made using earth from the village. They are made from earth, sand, portland cement and pozzolana.

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As you walk around the kindergarten, look out for the carved numbers below, which will help you identify and explain the special elements of the building.

Kindergartenelement sheet

Soakaway drains

Around the edge of the site a series of french drains have been designed to collect and control storm water runoff. They divert runoff from the slopes behind the site running into the buildings, and return it to the groundwater. The overflow from the rainwater harvesting tanks are also connected into them. The french drains comprise a rubble filled trench with a perforated pipe within it.

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Termite barrier

The metal strip that continues around the perimeter of the building is a detail designed to prevent termites attacking the timber structural elements of the classrooms. The metal strip is bent at an angle so when the termites reach the bend in the metal they will fall off. TERMITES CAN’T WALK UPSIDE DOWN.

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Roof overhang and shading

The combination of the roof overhang and the projection from the opening window shutters, stops the direct sun coming into the building while allowing lots of light for teaching and learning.

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Rainwater Harvesting & Gutters

Each classroom has a rainwater tank attached to the gutters to collect rainwater that can be used for hand washing, cooking, cleaning and even drinking!! The tanks are designed so that when it rains, the first rush of water that arrives with the dirt from the roof, is drained away so that the rest of the water entering the tanks is clean. Each tank can hold 2,000litres of water and are constructed out of durable locally available heavy-duty plastic. The pipework within the tank has been designed to ensure that water from the middle of the tank is conveyed to the outlet, therefore avoiding any debris which settles to the bottom or floats to the top.

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Concrete Mix

The key structural elements of the classrooms (columns and ring beam that runs the perimeter of the classroom) have been constructed from concrete. Concrete is normally made from portland cement, sand and water but is not very good for the environment because of the energy required to produce the cement. We have replaced one third of the Portland cement with Pozzolana, which is produced in Ghana from clay and palm kernels.

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As you walk around the kindergarten, look out for the carved numbers below, which will help you identify and explain the special elements of the building.

Kindergartenelement sheet