Center for Health and Social Advancement, Laongo
Diébédo Francis Kéré  Kéré Architecture 

Center for Health and Social Advancement, Laongo

Diébédo Francis Kéré  Kéré Architecture 


The construction of a health center as part of the Opera Village project followed the aim of improving basic health assistance for the local population. The CSPS, acronym for Centre de Santè et de Promotion Sociale, is fit out with the necessary installations to offer assistance during several days and to transfer the more critical patients to the closest hospital. The building sits at the end of a sinuous path that descends from the opera hill, with views of the savannah. From the road one can see the double-pitched roofs that resonate with the funneled windows and evoke the profile of two hills on the horizon.

With the intention of giving the center a comfortable atmosphere for the community, two large courtyards offer patients and their families communal spaces where they can rest in the shade. Besides, each unit has its own interior courtyard. The complex is closed with a permeable exterior wall thanks to its multiple voids. Designed according to three modules of different sizes, the windows are conceived as picture frames giving patients different views of the landscape. The exterior walls are formed by a layer of hollow concrete bricks covered with clay.


Cliente Client

Festspielhaus Africa

Arquitectos Architects

Kéré Architecture

Equipo de diseño Design Team

Diébédo Francis Kéré, Ines Bergdolt, Emmanuel Dorsaz, Jin Gul David Jun, Pedro Montero Gonzales, Dominique Mayer

Construcción Construction

Kéré Architecture (supervisión supervision); Gruenhelme e.V., Association Dolai

Superficie construida Built-up area

1,340 m²

Fotos Photos

Kéré Architecture, Erik-Jan Ouwerkerk