School Assembly Hall Kibwigwa
Kibwigwa‘s new school hall in western Tanzania serves as a assembly area and canteen for 500 schoolchildren. The design distinguishes itself through its achitectural simplicity and is characterized by its timber gridshell. Due to the absence of supports/struts the room achieves multi-functionality, serving its purpose as canteen, meeting hall, theater space and chapel.
Considerations such as the possible scaffold free assembly, the availability of timber locally as well as the material savings relative to other construction forms of similar spanswidths were determining factors in selecting the Zollinger building system.
The application of a concrete timber composite system on the outer shell enabled the hall to remain open on both sides whilst employing only rudimentary construction methods and materials. This adaptation of a new technological advancement is a contribution to the further development of the traditional Zollinger construction.