Manarah School Compound

Narratives

Architect Narrative

Due to the high-density population in Cairo, the hot climate and constraints in available land area and finances, the designers of this school were faced with the challenge to work within these constraints yet design an educational facility that is an environmentally pleasant learning space.

Cairo is a city with a population of 18 million all crammed into a small area; therefore most neighborhoods consist of high-density high-rise buildings. Madinate Nasr in which this school was built is no exception. All the buildings around the school are at least ten stories high, only narrow streets separating them from the school which is limited to a block of 16 500 m2. The designers took advantage of the presence of a designated park area on the south aspect of the site to incorporate the green view from classrooms in this usually stark environment.

Another challenge was how best to accommodate 3,000 students from level 1 -12 in this limited lot. With only 4 m per student the architects wanted a design that would provide a human scale and also be environmentally pleasant in a hot, sunny climate surrounded by matchbox type apartment buildings. To erect one massive structure on the limited area of land to house the whole student population would have been too overwhelming for the individual student. The solution was to divide the area into 4 units with open spaces in between. As the neighborhood consists of apartment blocks, these four units echo the feel of the environment surrounding it, as if each educational level has its own apartment block. The difference being though, once the student enters the building he comes to a shady courtyard planted with greenery that provides sanctuary from the hot climate outside.

Many features in the design make use of traditional Arab architecture where the actual design of the building is used in climate control, making use of natural ventilation rather than resorting to the use of energy consuming air-conditioning. Classrooms are oriented on a north to south axis, which is the best orientation in Egypt to take advantage of the north prevailing winds. This orientation also has the least heat load on the building structure. The classrooms, in which most of the time is spent, are provided with windows on both sides and are located on single loaded corridors around a courtyard in order to create cross ventilation within the teaching spaces. Activity areas such as science labs, libraries, computer rooms, art & craft, etc. are located on the small east and west wings of the building. Sun breakers are used in the east, west and south elevations to prevent direct sunlight from entering.

Each building is designed as a compact square shape, equipped with it’s own separate activity areas to minimize circulation space between classrooms and activity areas, so children don’t have to walk lengthy corridors, or to other buildings in the hot weather. This proximity of the activity areas encourages out of class teaching. The circulation corridors are located around the courtyards, which are planted with greenery to make the daily movement between educational spaces a refreshing experience as opposed to walking in dull inner corridors.

With limited outdoor space a major concern was to design pleasant outdoor spaces with maximum shade and green areas to encourage outdoor teaching in a haven from the arid /concrete environment outside. The four separate units are located at the four corners of the site allowing for open spaces to be created between the buildings. The open spaces are designed with the environment in mind. The position of the buildings create maximum shade in the open spaces during the hot afternoons and take advantage of the prevailing winds. The hierarchy of the outdoor spaces from the inner courtyard through the plaza to the outdoor sport area provides a pleasant environment and enhances different uses of outdoor teaching.

A major advantage of dividing the school into four structures was allowing it to be built in stages according to the financial limitations of the owner, which is a community association. This design allowed them to provide step-by-step finance where each separate unit can be built as capital is provided without disturbing the existing structures.