Xewa Sowé Center for Orphans: A Village of Earth and Straw, Sowé, Benin
The Xewa Sowé Center for Orphans goes beyond mere shelter to create a holistic, self-sustaining ecosystem for vulnerable children in rural Benin. Blending regional domestic heritage with modern spatial logic, the center integrates emergency accommodation, a food center, and public community spaces around a productive kitchen garden. By sourcing nearly all building elements within a thirty-kilometer radius, the project roots itself entirely in the local economy and the natural landscape.
The Vision
The project responds to a pressing need for child welfare by anchoring itself firmly within the local community rather than isolating its residents. Situated on the village outskirts where the settlement meets the agricultural fields, the center acts as a thoughtful transition point. It is structured around a central kitchen garden that nourishes the children, wrapped by a perimeter wall that references traditional royal courtyards. While the wall provides safety, the architecture prevents exclusion; the library deliberately opens outward to the villagers, ensuring the children remain actively engaged with the broader community of Sowé.
Tectonics
Rooted deeply in Beninese building culture, the center champions handmade construction and the use of raw, unstabilized earth. The earth masonry was entirely hand-worked from foundation excavation to the walls, drastically reducing the grey energy typically associated with modern construction. Because the earth was left unstabilized, it retains the profound ability to simply melt back into the landscape at the end of the building's life. Local artisans drove the process, shaping the woodwork and crafting the structures with materials sourced mere miles away, thereby injecting vital capital directly into the regional micro-economy.
The Living Building
The architecture breathes and regulates itself without any reliance on mechanical cooling. Thick raw earth walls provide immense thermal mass, absorbing the intense daytime heat and gently releasing it during the cooler evenings to maintain a naturally regulated indoor climate. Above, thick straw roofs cap the residential quarters, acting as powerful natural insulators against the tropical sun. The design also utilizes clever geometries; the asymmetrical roof over the library is specifically angled away from the prevailing north wind to draw in natural light and facilitate constant, refreshing cross-ventilation.
Data Sheet
Project Name: Xewa Sowé Center for Orphans
Location: Sowé, Benin
Architect: Corentin Dalon, Arianna Fabrizi De Biani, Doryan Kuschner, Florian Mahieu
Completion Year: 2019
Area: 580 m²
Key Materials: Unstabilized raw earth, straw, local timber, corrugated iron
Typology: Housing / Community Center
Client: Xewa Sowé children's center / Local Authorities
Project Gallery
