Ilé Akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ — Sustainable student residence

Overview

Ilé Akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ reimagines student accommodation as a climate-responsive, community-centred residence for Obafemi Awolowo University. The proposal houses more than 50 students and relies on passive design strategies suited to the warm tropical climate of Ile-Ife.

The building is conceived as more than a place to sleep: a residence where learning continues beyond the classroom, and where shared spaces encourage interaction, collaboration and a strong sense of community.

Painted concept sketch of the residence facade in soft blue, white and ochre, with a figure in the foreground — Oil-painted facade concept

A courtyard at the centre

The form begins as a simple rectangular block. Its centre is removed to create a courtyard in the manner of the Yoruba agbo ilé, the compound house arranged around a shared open space. The front and back are then chamfered to arrive at the final mass.

Plans

The ground floor is the public zone, with the reception, common room, shared kitchen and study spaces. The first and second floors hold the student rooms, arranged as four-bed, two-bed and one-bed units around the open courtyard.

Ground floor plan with entrance, reception, minimart, kitchens, library and laundry around the courtyard — Ground floor · 1:350

First floor plan with four-bed, two-bed and one-bed rooms on either side of the courtyard void — First floor · 1:350

Second floor plan, repeating the room layout of the first floor — Second floor · 1:350

Plan key

Entrance
Reception
Minimart
Security
Manager’s office
Courtyard
Store / control room
Kitchen
Library & study
Laundry
Balcony & gallery
Four-bed room
Two-bed room
One-bed room

Rendered interior of a four-bed room with timber bunk beds, a shared desk and a slatted window — Four-bed room interior

Designed for the climate

The central courtyard lets air move through the building and keeps heat from becoming trapped.
Large windows face north and south and are deeply recessed, so direct sunlight does not enter the rooms.
A double-skin brick facade uses the stack effect to draw warm air away and lower room temperatures.
Wide gable vents in the parapet walls prevent heat and moisture from building up under the roof.

Room section showing sunlight blocked by the brick screen and air rising through the cavity between the screen and the bedroom wall — Room section: airflow, sunlight, brick facade and bedroom wall

Section perspective through both wings and the courtyard stair, with arrows showing cool air rising and leaving through the roof — Section perspective showing airflow through the courtyard

Materials

The building draws on vernacular materials and vegetation native to Nigeria.

Rammed earth walls
Brick facade
Bamboo wall skin
Ceramic roof tiles
African baobab trees

Red brick
Bamboo
White stucco
Light grey concrete

Rendered long elevation with perforated red brick screens between white floor bands — Brick screen facade

Rendered courtyard with students seated around a central tree beneath open galleries — Courtyard view

Exploded axonometric separating the curved roof sheets, steel trusses, brick screens, aluminium bars, art walls, rammed earth walls and concrete supports — Exploded axonometric

Building components

Roofing sheet
Galvanised corrugated steel sheets: a lightweight, easily replaceable roof covering.
Steel trusses
Galvanised RHS steel truss members, bolted with a steel seat plate on wall ties.
Brick facade skin
Exterior brick facade (225 × 65 mm) protecting the inner walls from direct sunlight.
Vertical aluminium bars
Anodised aluminium bars at 200 mm centres, finished with acrylic latex paint.
Contemporary African art wall
Cement board depicting contemporary African art, with a termite-treated timber finish.
Rammed earth walls
Compacted rammed earth base walls, stabilised with Portland cement.
RC wall supports
Reinforced concrete base wall supports at 300 mm centres.