MAKE DESIGN MATTER - Laterite: low-impact, affordable and beautiful
A virtual talk in collaboration with INTBAU (May 2020).
Laterite is a rock found close to the surface in tropical regions the world over. Easy to quarry and to cut, it gains strength when it dries in the open air, and represents an often under-utilised opportunity for cheap, natural building material.
Architect Toby Pear will present Article 25’s ongoing project at Collège Hampaté Bâ in Niger, where locally quarried laterite is being used as the principal building material for a host of new classroom blocks and ancillary buildings. The hope is for the Collège to become an exemplar for the region, showing how laterite can offer a cost-effective and ecological alternative to manufactured or imported materials.