Notre Dame architecture students begin building Ugandan school | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Notre Dame architecture students begin building Ugandan school Notre Dame architecture students begin building Ugandan school Published: May 26, 2010 Author: Karen Voss University of Notre Dame School of Architecture students have teamed up with Building Tomorrow, Inc. (BT) to design, fund and build a much-needed school in the Kiboga district of Uganda, Africa. They leave this week to begin construction. BT is an international social-profit organization that encourages youth philanthropy to build educational infrastructure projects for under-served children in sub-Saharan Africa. BT currently works in Uganda, identifying areas with the greatest number of children with the least access to a primary school. Notre Dame’s involvement began last year when fifth-year School of Architecture student Elijah Pearce attended a talk by BT president, George Srour, and decided to recruit fellow students to join their efforts. Over the next year Pearce, with the generous funding of Matthew and Joyce Walsh, brought together a group of six Notre Dame Architecture students to build the new school. “With this project we were acting on two fronts,” Pearce said. “We were trying to fundraise for a school in an underserved area of Uganda, and we were also looking, as architects, to see how we could improve the school’s design.” The students’ design takes advantage of cross breezes to cool the building naturally. It is also oriented for optimal solar angles, minimizing the need for heating. The school’s roof serves to collect water, and vent details have been added to the walls to enhance the design visually while improving the overall ventilation system. Perhaps most significantly, the students will be making and building with newly-adopted interlocking soil-stabilizing block (ISSB), bricks they will produce on site entirely from local materials that reduce the need for mortar. Local climate and sustainability informs every aspect of the students’ design. The school, to be named the Academy of Kyeitabya, will be BT’s ninth in Uganda. Once open, the BT Academy of Kyeitabya will join the nearly-completed BT Academy of Sentigi as the second location supported by Notre Dame. When talking about the project, the students emphasize the unique opportunity to give back through architecture. “We’ve been given a tremendous educational gift, and can now make a practical application of what we’ve learned here at Notre Dame,” said fifth-year student Mallory Meecham. Adds fellow student Tim Reidy, “Nobody felt obligated to take part in this project. Nobody needed course credits. But we all felt obligated through our conscience.” Updates from the students’ time in Kyeitabya are available online at www.buildingtomorrow.org/blog. From: Karen Voss, kvoss@nd.edu, 574-631-2872 Posted In: International Faith Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related September 14, 2022 Apostolic nuncio to Great Britain to deliver the 2022 Keeley Vatican Lecture July 14, 2022 Law School hosts second annual Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit in Rome July 13, 2022 Catholic peacebuilders bring hope amid the world’s crises June 01, 2022 University of Notre Dame to establish consortium of Catholic universities to study Muslim-Christian relations January 31, 2022 New book explores the role of Catholic peacebuilders in addressing global mining issues For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn