In the first half of 2017, The Scarcity and Creativity Studio (SCS) completed two classrooms for Eco Moyo Education Centre. In the latter half of 2017 SCS was invited back to build another classroom with a small library – study space attached to it.
Project Name: Eco Moyo Education Centre
Architect Name: The Scarcity and Creativity
Eco Moyo is an educational Community-Based Organisation located in Ezamoyo, Kilifi county, Kenya, providing free education to children from poor families who otherwise could not afford any form of education. Eco Moyo owns a 5 hectares site half an hour drive from Kilifi town center, which it is developing into a primary school for more than 100 students. At present, the school has four classrooms, housing for the director and teachers, accommodation for 20 students boarding at the school, a dining and cooking building where pupils are offered free food, administrative offices, and an outdoor sports area.
The Scarcity and Creativity Studio (SCS) completed a classroom and small library-study area, allowing Eco Moyo to provide education for an additional 25 students. Having learned that the most pleasant environment in this equatorial climate is under a large mature tree where the shade is dense and the breezes uninterrupted, we tried to recreate this type of space, while providing both a focused learning environment and protection from tropical rain.
The main difference with the classrooms we designed previously is in the degree of openness. The classroom and study space are continuous with the surrounding vegetation, with solid walls only where the attention of pupils could have been distracted by neighboring activities.
The materials used are Walls: coral stone blocks (20x20x40 cms), rendered in 12 parts of local red earth and one part cement. Structure: soft-wood and OSB composite frames and columns. Floors and slabs: hard-core, kafusi, DPM, 6mm steel mesh, concrete slab, finished in steel-trowelled sand cement. Roof: Softwood purlins, corrugated, galvanized steel sheets.
The expenditure on the building, which includes building materials, transport, and some local labour, e.g., welder, furniture carpenter, etc. was around 15 000 US dollars. Most building labour was provided by the SCS group.
