The Polish firm Jeju Studio, led by Iwo Borkowicz and Adam Siemaskiewicz, was commissioned by the Wayair Foundation to build a preschool and primary school in the refugee settlement of Ulyankulu, in western Tanzania. The inhabitants of Ulyankulu fled from Burundi because of ethnic violence and the massacres of 1972. Since the 1970s the settlement has become a city. In 2015, the Burundian refugees and their families were given Tanzanian citizenship.

Modeled on local architecture, the building is executed with bricks handmade with different kinds of clay. They are arranged in a pattern that alternates light and dark reddish tones. The educational facilities, which include meeting spaces for use by the community at large, take up several interconnected constructions surrounding a central court where trees grow. The classrooms are square-shaped, with patios encouraging creative play. The largest, called 'the theater,' opens a side wall towards the center, turning the patio into an auditorium.

Overheating is prevented through several temperature-control measures: the cantilevered roofs include ventilation spaces and the classroom floors are thick concrete slabs with a high degree of thermal inertia that helps to keep them cool during the day. Cross ventilation and collected rainwater also contribute.

Fotos: Iwo Borkowicz