Masoro Health Center

The Masoro Health Center in Rwanda is a public campus offering comprehensive healthcare and wellness programs, improved hygiene standards, and spaces open for all community members regardless of their health or financial status. The project navigates Rwanda’s severe topography through a series of terraces differentiating curative services, administrative functions, preventive care, maternity services and public gathering.

In low-income and rural regions like Masoro, education and prevention are crucial for improving health, which requires buy-in and trust from the community. The Center is designed to be a public space where people from the area feel welcome to visit even when not in need of care. We used the entirety of the architectural process, from planning to post-occupancy evaluation, as a means to achieve an inclusive and holistic approach to wellness, taking on the coordination of partner groups and the construction management in addition to design. We directed funds to hire and train local residents to construct the project, especially women who are seldom invited to participate in constructing the built environment. Local builders in turn gained skills, income, future work in the construction industry from this project.


Awards + Media:

Awards:

  • Metropolis Magazine Game Changer 2020

  • Society of American Registered Architects Honor Award

  • Architizer Project for Good Award

  • American Institute of Architects Honor Award

Media:

  • Arch Daily | B

Project Team:

General Architecture Collaborative:

  • James Setzler

  • Patrice Ndababonye

  • Nicolas Kalimba Rugamba

  • Marie Claire Musengayire

  • Cynthia Twagirayezu

  • Marie Rose Ukwizabigira

  • Iris Gomm

  • Mia Shepard

  • Yutaka Sho

  • Leighton Beaman

 

Consultants:

  • Kate Spade NY On Purpose

  • Teach Rwanda

  • Gardens for Health International

  • Shooting Touch

  • Africa Yoga Project

 

Construction:

  • General Architecture Collaborative (planning, design, programming, construction, operation management)

  • SKAT(ModernBricks training)

  • Junho Chun (structural engineering)

 

Photos:

  • Katie Garner

  • General Architecture Collaborative

 

Community Partner:

  • Isooko Community Development

Components:

  • Architecture

  • Landscape Architecture

  • Sustainable Agriculture

  • Community Engagement

  • Participatory Design & Construction

  • Local Building Products

  • Local Building Practices

  • Indigenous Materials

Project Data:

Location :

  • Masoro Sector, Rulindo District, Northern Province, The Republic of Rwanda 

Cost:

  • $450,000 (USD)

 

Floor area:

  • Site: 2 hectares

  • Building: 1100 square meters