Obama Legacy Campus
Concept
2014
Kogelo, Kenya
9.6 hectares
Mama Sarah Obama Foundation
The Mama Sarah Obama Legacy project is the culmination of Mama Sarah’s lifetime of service to orphans and children from impoverished families. After years of providing fundamental day-to-day support to children in need, Mama Sarah established a foundation whose goal is to make a long-lasting impact on children’s lives.
Located in the Kenyan village of Kogelo, the birthplace of President Barack Obama’s father, the project is an education campus that will serve upwards of 1,000 children on their path from infancy to adulthood. The three main components of the campus are an early childhood development centre, a primary school and a secondary school. Each building is uniquely designed for its specific age group with age-appropriate amenities such as libraries, playgrounds and sports fields. The one- and two-story buildings are built out of clay bricks, with slanted timber truss roofs elevated above the walls to provide natural ventilation. In each cluster of buildings the roofs take different forms, making the identity of each part of the campus.
In order to encourage interaction between children of different ages, the three schools are united by a variety of shared spaces including an auditorium, chapel, cafeteria and the main sports field. These play an important role in grounding the campus within the community by providing gathering spaces not only for the children but also for people from Kogelo to come together for special events.
The Mama Sarah Obama Legacy project is the culmination of Mama Sarah’s lifetime of service to orphans and children from impoverished families. After years of providing fundamental day-to-day support to children in need, Mama Sarah established a foundation whose goal is to make a long-lasting impact on children’s lives.
Located in the Kenyan village of Kogelo, the birthplace of President Barack Obama’s father, the project is an education campus that will serve upwards of 1,000 children on their path from infancy to adulthood. The three main components of the campus are an early childhood development centre, a primary school and a secondary school. Each building is uniquely designed for its specific age group with age-appropriate amenities such as libraries, playgrounds and sports fields. The one- and two-story buildings are built out of clay bricks, with slanted timber truss roofs elevated above the walls to provide natural ventilation. In each cluster of buildings the roofs take different forms, making the identity of each part of the campus.
In order to encourage interaction between children of different ages, the three schools are united by a variety of shared spaces including an auditorium, chapel, cafeteria and the main sports field. These play an important role in grounding the campus within the community by providing gathering spaces not only for the children but also for people from Kogelo to come together for special events.
