Children Hospital and School Ethiopia

The Jolie Pitt Foundation started the Zahara Hospital and School project together with the Prof. Dr. Anne Goldfeld's Global Health Committee in order to answer the need for a center of excellence for the treatment of MDR TB-infected children. As these children are away from their family, or are orphans themselves, the Zahara Center is also a school for patients and for the community around them. GRAFT became involved in the design of a building that will not only house a progressive health care institution and school, but will help the community improve through the building itself.

The process is guided by a proactive capacity-building concept for the construction teams and a local procurement system for sustainable building materials. By demonstrating new, innovative and inexpensive ways to build locally, the Zahara Center aims to stimulate social, economic and environmental ripple effects. It will eventually be the largest bamboo construction in East Africa. A house to learn in and to learn from.

The design and building concept of the Zahara Children’s Center serves as a catalyst for progress and therefore aims to have broader relevance: by anchoring the project to its locality through smart local resourcing and educating locals, GRAFT’s design aims to be a beacon for proactive progress, rather than an isolated flagship project, creating a lasting impact for individuals and the community as a whole.