PENCHA
Raise awareness Sharing experience
Mixed activities
Empowering women through architecture Empower by giving ownership
Technology & Education Collaboration & Sharing
STEP1
Total volume
STEP2
STEP3
Connections & Sun
Community
STEP4
Protective envelope
‘’Pencha’’ is a meeting place where daily gatherings and discussions take place. Thus the inspiration for the design of women’s house came from Senegalese tradition and their way of living. Being a part of a community and having a feeling of belonging are important aspects that were implemented from the very beginning. Therefore, the building has been divided into smaller clusters, and by its shape the volumes imitate the village and emphasize the importance of a community. The clusters are positioned so that they enclose the space and create a visible and welcoming central courtyard with a tree in the middle. The accessibility from all paths, as well as sun orientation, were also considered. Three clusters are designed in a way that they can host many different activities. One cluster is intended mainly for cooking with kitchen equipment and big dining tables inside and outside. Creating an opportunity to encourage women to create is an important aspect when trying to strengthen gender equality and encourage empowerment. Therefore, dedicated market areas were designed in front and around the clusters, orientated towards the main street. Moreover, the outdoor areas can be utilised for gardening, thus users can produce ingredients, cook and sell their products. Each cluster can be divided with movable partition walls, making the space more flexible and enabling different activities to happen at the same time. Each cluster has an additional outdoor activity, such as the already mentioned outdoor dining and market, as well as a sports court. Moreover creating diverse activities both inside and outside ensures that the house is utilised during the whole day and that it is easily adaptable to inhabitants’ daily life.
SECTION AA 1:50
Optional room for solar panels
+ 2,70
Ventilated facade with water cooling
system + 0,15
± 0,00
+ 0,15
± 0,00
- 0,90
PLAN
A SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE
1:200
Sustainability has been an essential aspect from the beginning of the design, addressed by implementing a life cycle approach. The main material for construction are rammed earth and wood, both easily accessible, traditional materials, with low embodied carbon. Passive ventilation and cooling strategies have been set in place to achieve thermal comfort. A water collection and flooding prevention system have been designed to store water and use it for daily needs and cooling purposes. Moreover, the light wooden structure can easily be disassembled, transforming the whole project into e.g. a public park, in case of future need.
Wooden fence
PHASE 5
Fence assembling & mounting
8
A
5
6
8 1
LOCATION
2 1
Baghere municipality
Ba
4
Straw Textiles
PHASE 4
Windows and Partitions Panels fabrication
er e
6
3
gh
9
m
ain
INDOOR
str ee
t
1 2 3 4 5
- Flexible rooms / Meeting - Kitchen - Administration - Storage - Toilets and Changing room
1 A
OUTDOOR 6 7 8 9
- Motion area - Market area - Eating area - Courtyard
7
7
Straw
Metal sheets Cement & shells
PHASE 3
Roof construction Red clay
PHASE 1
Clay digging & Rammed earth walls construction
PHASE 2 Rosewood
Wood frames assembly and mounting
WATER SYSTEM - Water Tanks - Underground wells - Canals open - Canals closed