Laurent Sechaud
The market's layout is quite simple and regular. Two orthogonal grids define the alleys …
Laurent Sechaud
On a construction level, the innovative use of compressed earth blocks was intended to …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
The choice of the structural system of dome-shaped roofs was dictated by the need for longer …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
The grid of the market is interrupted by the stalls zone, which has been conceived as an open …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
In the stalls zone, a series of arches support dome-shaped roofs. Central Market, Koudougou, …
Laurent Sechaud
The detailed architectural project was adopted after the construction of a 1:1 prototype of a …
Laurent Sechaud
The organisation of the Central market allows for good air-circulation and gives every …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
The main objective was to use the compressed earth blocks not only for walls but also for …
Laurent Sechaud
A large number of stalls are occupied by vegetable vendors. Central Market, Koudougou, …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
The first step was to choose the site for the new market: the site of the original market or …
Laurent Sechaud
The market is enclosed by the shop buildings around the periphery and by gates that are …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
The market is bordered on two sides by car parks, or more exactly motorcycle parks. Central …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
Shops around the periphery can stay open beyond the general opening hours, animating the city …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
A major innovation was the introduction of counterweighted top-hinged doors, which cover the …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
Being labour-intensive, this project generated more jobs than a construction in concrete. The …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
For use of maintenance, corrugated metal sheets were used to reduce the vulnerability of the …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
At the scale of the city, the Central Market was expected to enhance the urban fabric and …
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
Central Market, Koudougou, Burkina Faso.
Amir-Massoud Anoushfar
Master plan. Central Market, Koudougou, Burkina Faso.
AKTC
Shops, section north-south. Central Market, Koudougou, Burkina Faso.
AKTC
Stalls, section north-south. Central Market, Koudougou, Burkina Faso.
AKTC
Shops plan. Central Market, Koudougou, Burkina Faso.
AKTC
Shops façade. Central Market, Koudougou, Burkina Faso.
AKTC
Shops elevation. Central Market, Koudougou, Burkina Faso.
AKTC
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Award Cycle: 2005-2007 Cycle
Status: Award Recipient
Country of origin: Burkina Faso
Location: Koudougou, Burkina Faso
Client: Koudougou Municipality
Architect: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Size: 29'000 m²
Completed: 2005
The impact of Koudougou’s Central Market is twofold: at the urban scale, it reinforces and enhances the fabric of a mid-sized town, providing a monumental civic space for commercial and social exchange. On the level of construction, it introduces simple and easily assimilated improvements to a traditional material - stabilised earth - which allow it to achieve its full aesthetic and environmental potential. By using blocks of compressed earth, the market not only emonstrates the superior climactic performance of the local building material, but also shows how humble earth blocks can be used to create a sophisticated pattern language of vaults, domes and arches.
The market is the third of its type to be built under the direction of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in cooperation with the Programme de Développement des Villes Moyennes of the Burkina Faso government, which aims to strengthen the country’s mid-sized towns through building commercial infrastructures. The market was the result of a process that brought together and engaged the entire community in the site selection, design and construction of the market as well as its continuing use. A 1:1 prototype of a typical retail space was constructed which helped facilitate communication between the different collaborators, simultaneously allowing refinement of the design, development of innovative construction techniques and practical training of the local masons.