Umoja House

A fitting response to the city and its climate.

BDP designed the structural and environmental engineering for a building in which the British High Commission and embassies of Germany and the Netherlands and for the European Commission in Tanzania were co-located.

Defence against the climate pervaded all aspects of the design. To prevent overall heat gain our design has a floating solar roof and external louvres to three elevations. Materials were sourced locally wherever possible and supported via local agents and contractors.

Brief

  • to create a secure building
  • build to European standards in one of the poorest countries of the world and with extremely aggressive climate
  • provide the client with an acceptable internal condition with due regard to sustainable energy sources

Results

  • we provide a solution to the climatic conditions without over complicating the engineering
  • the project won the Institution of Structural Engineers special award 2004

Facts

Location: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Client: Foreign & commonwealth Office
Construction cost: £2.5m
Completed: 2002
Awards: 1

Integrated services

environmental engineering, structural engineering, landscape architecture, lighting, acoustics

Links to images