Reach School

REACH is a charity organisation operating a programme which supports fractured communities in Rwanda affected by the civil war, through a positive action reconciliation process.

Squire and Partners’ involvement in the programme, via an introduction from graduate Edward Dale-Harris, is to practically support the creation of a school and community hall for the town of Nyamata in Southern Rwanda. The school will be built by former aggressors as a peace offering for local families affected by the conflict – in return the local community host a meal inside the building, which is shared by both parties as a mark of forgiveness.

The practice is providing design skills and resources which facilitate the build, and have devised a system for the on-going creation of sustainable building materials. Squire and Partners looked at the historic building vernacular of rammed earth, timber supports, thatch and woven screens to inform their designs. Taking inspiration from traditional Rwandan domed structures, a design model was established using readily available materials and the introduction of a series of interlocking stabilised soil blocks, formed from a simple hand operated machine with various moulds.