University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) Phase 2 Masterplan, Butaro, Rwanda

FBW Group has designed an overall Masterplan for the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), and Stage II detailed designs for its Butaro Campus located in Burera district, Rwanda. The UGHE Campus is dedicated to providing world-class education to exceptional students, of all backgrounds, in diverse countries across Rwanda and the developing world. Stage II design is adding substantial and specified volume to the existing, expanding both the academic and residential complexes. Key elements of the new developments are the recreational and cultural facilities and a central auditorium.

The landscape of Butaro is stunning and was asking to be celebrated and protected. The overall shape of the future complex resembles a Ginkgo Biloba leaf and the proposed arrangement of the site also concurs with the Ginkgo leaf: the stalk being the central entry point of energy, fanning out over the leaf with the buildings aligning the contours in a strip arrangement.

The master plan architecture takes the precedents of the historically famous ‘red brick’ universities and its classical principles, whilst simultaneously modernising and adapting them appropriately to respond to the climatic conditions of the site, the local and regional cultural traditions and the availability of materials of skills. To make the buildings stand out, FBW chose brickwork and terracotta products as the primary façade material with warm orange clays used in Rwanda which blend well with the lush green landscaping.

In addition to the low carbon footprint of brickwork, considerable thought has gone into passive design and other sustainable interventions that because of Butaro’s temperate climate required an approach different from the generic tropical building principles.