Climate Responsive Design – The Classroom of the Future

This Commonwealth Association of Architects CPD session explores climate resilient design for educational facilities in East Africa, addressing the enormous infrastructure challenge of an estimated 168,000 additional classrooms needed in Uganda alone over the next five years. Presented by Meg Collin (Feilden Foundation) and Felix Holland (Localworks), the session introduces the East African Schools Design Guide—a comprehensive resource developed through extensive fieldwork across Uganda and Rwanda. The guide establishes eight core principles for sustainable school design including holistic child-centred education, future-proofing through adaptability, community integration, inclusivity, climate mitigation and response, respect for nature and biodiversity, maintenance minimisation, and high health and hygiene standards. Through detailed case studies ranging from vocational training institutes to primary schools built with compressed earth blocks, earthbag construction, clay bricks, and innovative timber-lime prefabrication systems, the session demonstrates how contextual design, local regenerative materials, and appropriate technology can deliver dignified, comfortable learning environments while drastically reducing carbon footprints compared to conventional concrete block construction.

Outline 

• Introduction to the need for schools guidance in East Africa, including population growth context (Uganda among top ten globally), SDG 4 targets, estimated classroom requirements, and recognition that architecture is approximately 15% of educational success but represents the longest-lasting and most resource-intensive component
• Overview of the East African Schools Design Guide development including fieldwork visiting over 40 schools, collaborative research process, eight core design principles, guide structure covering site planning through case studies, and plans for country-specific addenda and French translation
• Case study of Ignite Change vocational training institute demonstrating rapid design-to-construction process (four days design, opened within 10 months), application of eight principles, use of interlocking soil stabilised bricks, and flexible spaces adaptable to changing needs
• Four exemplar projects from Local Works Uganda: Karamoja Primary Schools (contextual architecture using local stone and compressed earth blocks), Mustard Seed Junior School (unstabilised earthbag construction with sculptural walls), CoF Primary Schools (refined clay brick composite wall system), and Eco Prefab (scalable FSC-certified timber frame with sawdust-lime infill blocks for mass production)
• Discussion of challenges including regulatory approvals, resource constraints, material innovation acceptance, and the need for standards-based approaches to convince authorities of alternative construction methods

Learning Outcomes

The sessions learning outcomes were:

• Understand the scale of educational infrastructure need in East Africa with an estimated 168,000 additional classrooms required in Uganda alone over five years to achieve SDG 4 targets, accounting for out-of-school children, population growth, and class size reduction
• Recognise the eight core principles of sustainable school design: holistic child-centered education, future-proofing for adaptability, school as heart of community, inclusivity for special needs, climate change mitigation and response, respect for nature and biodiversity, minimised maintenance and running costs, and high health and hygiene standards
• Learn comprehensive site planning approaches including topography analysis, orientation for climate response, arrangement of buildings following repeating patterns, integration of services and access, landscape as extension of classroom, and master planning for phased expansion
• Appreciate bioclimatic design strategies for moderate tropical climates including maximizing natural ventilation, eliminating or minimizing need for mechanical heating/cooling, using roof overhangs and shading devices for comfort, designing for cross-ventilation, and incorporating indirect daylighting
• Understand diverse earth construction techniques including compressed/interlocking stabilized earth blocks (ISS), unstabilized earthbag construction with lime plaster, stone foundations and plinths for moisture protection, and exposed finishes eliminating plastering requirements where climate permits
• Learn about innovative composite construction systems including steel-brick composite walls where window frames serve as structure, timber frame walls with sawdust-lime infill blocks, lime plaster encapsulation for durability and fire protection, and FSC-certified eucalyptus utilisation
• Recognise carbon footprint reduction potential with alternative material systems achieving at least 75% lower embodied carbon compared to conventional concrete block with cement plaster construction, while also reducing operational costs through eliminated or reduced painting/maintenance requirements
• Appreciate the importance of scalability and replicability recognizing that while bespoke contextual designs are valuable, the scale of need (8,000+ schools) requires development of prefabricated, affordable, rapid-deployment systems that maintain quality and sustainability principles
• Understand material selection criteria balancing durability against termites and moisture, local availability reducing transportation carbon, cultural acceptability (timber buildings encapsulated to appear like masonry), structural performance, thermal comfort, maintenance requirements, and cost
• Learn strategies for regulatory approval of alternative materials including referencing international standards (e.g., New Zealand standards for rammed earth), conducting required testing, prototyping to demonstrate performance, and building relationships with ministries to gain acceptance of innovations

Core Curriculum Topics

• Sustainable Architecture
  This session comprehensively addresses climate-responsive design in moderate tropical climates, including passive ventilation strategies, natural daylighting, shading for comfort, orientation for cross-ventilation, thermal mass considerations, and designing to eliminate mechanical heating/cooling requirements through bioclimatic principles.
• Places, Planning & Communities
  The lecture covers specialised design considerations for educational facilities including child development needs, flexibility for changing pedagogies, phased expansion planning, creating indoor-outdoor learning environments, accessibility for all abilities, and designing spaces that inspire both students and teachers.
• Design, Construction & Technology 
  The session extensively addresses earth construction (compressed, stabilized, earthbag), composite systems (steel-brick, timber-lime), prefabrication for scalability, innovative joinery and assembly methods, moisture and termite protection strategies, and performance testing of non-conventional materials.

SDG Learning Outcomes

• SDG 4: Quality Education
  This is the primary focus, addressing how to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all through provision of adequate, comfortable, safe educational infrastructure that supports rather than hinders learning outcomes.
• SDG 13: Climate Action
  The session demonstrates climate mitigation through low-carbon material selection (earth, timber, lime versus cement and steel), achieving 75% carbon footprint reductions, and climate adaptation through designing for comfort in changing climatic conditions without mechanical systems.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
  The lecture addresses sustainable urbanisation challenges, planning ahead of population growth, creating community-serving educational facilities, integrating landscape and nature, and providing accessible, safe, inclusive spaces in both urban and rural contexts.
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
  Throughout the session, speakers emphasise efficient material use, local sourcing to reduce transportation, waste utilisation (sawdust in blocks, eucalyptus offcuts in roofs), circular economy principles, and designing for minimal maintenance to reduce lifecycle resource consumption.
• SDG 15: Life on Land
  The case studies demonstrate protection and enhancement of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainable forestry practices (FSC certification), biodiversity integration through landscape design, and using schools as vehicles for teaching environmental stewardship to future generations.

The following CPD questions forms part of the learning guide for this session. As different Institutions of Architecture across the Commonwealth have different CPD reporting requirements, it is suggested that you retain a copy of your responses to these questions for your records.

1. Local Material Assessment: What locally-available, low-carbon materials exist in your region that are currently underutilized in construction? What barriers prevent their wider adoption and how might these be overcome?
2. Climate-Responsive Strategies: How do your current projects respond to local climate through passive design? What simple, low-tech bioclimatic strategies could you implement more consistently?
3. Scalability vs. Customization: When facing large-scale infrastructure needs, how do you balance the benefits of bespoke, contextual design against the necessity for replicable, affordable, rapidly-deployable solutions?
4. Material Innovation Advocacy: What role can you play in advocating for regulatory acceptance of alternative, lower-carbon materials? How might you build the evidence base through testing, standards, and demonstration projects?
5. Education Architecture Principles: Beyond technical performance, how do your educational facility designs support pedagogical innovation, child development, community integration, and connection to nature?
6. Lifecycle Thinking: How do you currently evaluate the full lifecycle costs and carbon implications of your material choices, including maintenance, replacement cycles, and end-of-life considerations?

To discover more about this project, please feel free to visit:

Peter Clegg and Meg Collin. School Design: A source book for schools in East Africa (The Feilden Foundation, 2024). Access online via: https://www.climate-design.org/#:~:text=School%20Design%20Guide-,Download,-Download%20a%20PDF

Peter Clegg and Isabel Sandeman. A Manifesto for Climate Responsive Design: Proceedings of a conference on raising awareness of Climate Responsive Design in East Africa 27th – 28th February 2019 (Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, 2019). Access online via: https://www.climate-design.org/_files/ugd/c20aa3_4d33a17acf7d46b3acb03dfe52dcecdc.pdf

Faculty of the Built Environment (FoBE) at Uganda Martyrs University, Climate Responsive Design (2024). Access online via: https://www.climate-design.org/