Women’s Opportunity Center: Rebuilding Heritage and Hope, Kayonza, Rwanda

Set on a two-hectare site in rural Rwanda, the Women’s Opportunity Center is a mini-village dedicated to empowering female survivors of war. Designed by Sharon Davis Design in collaboration with Women for Women International, the center revives the lost Rwandan tradition of circular, woven-reed dwellings. By utilizing 450,000 clay bricks hand-pressed by the women themselves, the architecture actively creates economic opportunity, rebuilds social infrastructure, and restores African heritage.

Architecture as Economic Empowerment

In Kayonza, a semi-rural area an hour from Kigali, women dedicate their days to subsistence farming, fetching water, and scavenging wood. The Women’s Opportunity Center was designed to intercept this cycle, serving as a secure, human-scaled campus for up to 300 women to learn, farm, and sell their goods.

The project proves that the process of building can be just as impactful as the building itself. The construction phase doubled as a job-training program, equipping the center's future users with marketable, income-generating skills.

The Vision: The Vernacular Village

The organizing principle of the campus is the traditional Rwandan village. The King's Palace: The center’s circular structures are modeled after the historic King’s Palace in southern Rwanda, an indigenous tradition of woven-reed dwellings that the region had largely lost.

Radiating Community: The circular forms radiate outward strategically: intimate classrooms sit at the protected center of the site, surrounded by community spaces, guest lodging, a farmer’s market, and finally, the civic realm beyond.

Tectonics: 450,000 Hand-Pressed Bricks

The design draws on the delicacy of vernacular construction but updates it for permanence and climate control. The Brick Matrix: To construct the pavilions, 450,000 clay bricks were made on-site using a durable manual press method adapted from local techniques. Perforated Privacy: The rounded brick walls are laid in a perforated, lattice-like pattern. This brilliant masonry technique allows for passive cooling and solar shading while maintaining a crucial sense of privacy and security for the women inside.

The Living Building: A Closed-Loop Ecosystem

The campus is designed to be highly self-sufficient, combining agriculture, water management, and energy generation. Commercial Integrated Farming: A demonstration farm, cooled by green roofs and retained earth walls, teaches organic techniques for commercial production. Women learn to raise livestock and manage food cooperatives. Sustainable Infrastructure: In place of polluting pit latrines, the center utilizes hygienic composting toilets that capture nitrogen-rich waste. This naturally produces fertilizer that nourishes the farm and can be sold for revenue.

The Market Plaza: Set around an inviting plaza near public transit, the center includes a market where women sell food, textiles, baskets, and potable water harvested from the campus rooftops.

Data Sheet