Hope Village Community Building, One Heart Tanzania

With a design that uses 3D-printed earth walls to create a place of safety, shelter and purpose, the Community Building for Hope Village, One Heart Tanzania, captures an extraordinary ambition.

A collaboration between Hassell and charity foundation One Heart, the Community Building forms part of a master plan designed by architectural firm ClarkeHopkinsClarke (CHC) that will provide housing, education, childcare and skills training to lift vulnerable young people of Tanzania out of poverty and guide them towards a brighter future. 

The project’s primary goal is to educate and care for vulnerable girls, with a strong emphasis on community involvement from conception to construction.

“The start of construction [of initial housing projects] at Hope Village is the reality of a dream that I have had for over 20 years,” says Dr. Consola Elia, the lead house parent of the children’s homes at Hope Village.

“Hope Village has been set up as a rescue centre for children suffering from hardship and unsafe environments across various regions in Tanzania. The entire village design will offer these children and their community facilities including a school, housing, play areas and more.”

— Dr. Consola Elia, lead house parent of the children’s homes at Hope Village

As a central gathering place, the Hope Village Community Building will host bustling school assemblies and lively communal meals, dividing into smaller spaces for added flexibility. A kitchen, bakery and communal store will support its multifunctional use as a hub for performance, connection and reflection for the whole community. With a striking, ​‘draped’ tensile roof and walls made from earth, the Community Building aims to create a village heart for residents and become a landmark for gathering in the broader neighbourhood.

The building’s 3D-printed earth wall technology is a sustainable design solution developed using clay-based soil available from sites within a 25-mile radius. The unusual construction process was tested in full-scale mock-ups with the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) in Barcelona, Spain and with engineers Eckersley O’Callaghan. Through the printing process, layers of earth bind together, creating walls punctuated by small openings. These permeable walls draw air and sunlight into the building’s interior when in place. 

“We’re using [design] to uplift how people experience their daily life… In this instance, we’re using it to hopefully help and heal and educate — and we’re also using it to innovate.”

— Mark Loughnan, Head of Design and Principal at Hassell

Client

One Heart Foundation

Location

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Status

In progress

Collaborators

Eckersley O’Callaghan, IAAC

Design team

Mark Loughnan, Xavier De Kestelier, Alix Smith, Alex French, Levent Ozruh, Karina Papianaite, Anthony Thevenon, Nathania Widjanarko

IMAGERY

Imigo, IAAC, Hassell

VIDEO

IAAC, Jaime Weston

A steel beam spanning the length of the Community Building will support a tensile roof made from locally sourced timber and clad with readily available corrugated metal sheet panels. The intention here is that the roof could potentially be assembled by the local community.

Hassell, One Heart, IAAC and the CHC team aim to oversee the transportation of vital building equipment needed to 3D-print the building’s walls from local earth. This initiative seeks to create opportunities for local employment, training and collaboration, fostering a foundational relationship between the community and this new central hub and ensuring active participation in building from the ground up.

In collaboration with Eckersley O’Callaghan and the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, we developed a pioneering ​‘timber blanket’ tensile roof system for the Community Building at Hope Village. A research paper detailing this innovative design was presented at the IASS 2025 Conference in Mexico City. Using an advanced parametric digital workflow, the roof combines locally sourced timber and steel to create a long-span, lightweight structure intended for community assembly. For a detailed look at our approach, methodology, and findings, download the full research paper.



Download Paper
  • 3D-printed earth was incorporated for its numerous environmental benefits, offering a readily available material (earth) that can be sourced from sites within a 25-mile radius. At the end of their life, these walls can be easily disassembled.
  • Since large timber in the local area is exported internationally, the roof structure design uses small, locally sourced timber sections. Corrugated metal sheet roofing is also readily available and sourced locally.
  • The building’s design draws natural ventilation and sunlight deep into the interior spaces, requiring minimal energy consumption.
  • The design considers the critical opportunity of the construction process to equip locals with new skills and build a strong sense of ownership of their new building. 
Related

People

Alix Smith

News

Tanzania’s One Heart Village to establish a safe home for 250 vulnerable girls and young women

Celebrating an important milestone as we lay the cornerstone for One Heart Village in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. This philanthropic project brings together safe housing, education, healthcare, sport, play and farming areas across a 30-acre site to create a self-sufficient village for young women at-risk of extreme poverty and abuse.

People

Mark Loughnan

Mark plays a pivotal role at Hassell, overseeing our design quality worldwide and setting our direction as a global practice.

Podcasts

Humanitarian architecture: How powerful design can help change the world

Designers have ​‘freaking superhero’ skills says architect Bryan Bell of the Public Interest Design Movement.

People

Xavier De Kestelier

Project

Bidi Bidi Performing Arts Centre

A community hub that empowers creativity, creates opportunity and brings dignity to the plight of refugees.

Project

Maningrida Arts and Culture Precinct

PODCAST

Designing for safety & inclusion in our cities

Hassell partnered with Monash University’s XYX Lab to gather data and a better understanding of the design elements that shape women’s perceptions of safety.

Bidi Bidi Performing Arts Centre

First Light Pavilion Visitor’s Centre

WA Museum Boola Bardip

New City in Sohar

Topics
WeChat QR Code

Scan this QR code with your phone to follow Hassell on WeChat.