Ten years ago, after the 2011 revolution, Diana Sandor “Didi” initiated the Nile River school in the small village of Al-Baharwa. Didi was visiting a friend living in Al-Baharwa; she noticed the residents lacked essential services, such as water and education. Children had to travel more than Three km to the next village, so they did not attend school due to the long distance. Therefore, Didi established a school following the Neo-Humanism philosophy and principles, a project which teaches children with affordable fees from age three to fourteen. The project started with the help of individuals who contributed to enhancing liveability in Al-Baharwa through education.

Years later, after the school gained the parents’ trust and the children who want to attend Nile River school are gradually increasing, it was needed to extend the school learning experience by introducing additional indoor and outdoor spaces. Upgrading Nile River school was developed by “Mawten” -an urban social enterprise seeking to achieve a sustainable human-landscape relationship- and funded by the “German Embassy”, whereas the “Sawa” project which follows “Egypt for all” Non-governmental organisation supports and trains teachers and runs the kindergarten and educational activities for older children. The project was designed and implemented between May 2021 and October 2021.

The project's primary aim is to enhance community engagement and introduce a better communal place to get educated. The design intervention was a result of community architecture responding to low-cost materials and easy techniques with available local labour. Meanwhile, it was controlled by a low budget and limited timeframe. It is crucial to encounter the local community’s perception towards the site to ensure social participation and accommodate their needs. Therefore, a participatory design workshop was conducted with different target users.

The first floor is redesigned to introduce new enclosed spaces with a renovated open veranda to accommodate the yoga classes and common seating area. In addition, the project intervention features an upgraded classroom, room for sewing classes, and a private room for the owner. Though social traditions play an important role in spatial design, design considerations are involved in controlling visibility by closing the openings in the girls’ sewing workshop. The redesigned spaces are formed by load-bearing masonry walls affixed to a steel structure roof. Two slanted mono-pitched roofs are designed to be compatible with the weather condition of Al-Bharwa village. The riverside space is redesigned to introduce an edutainment environment for students to achieve educational success. The design focused on low-cost elements that could be easily replicated by local builders and complement the school’s communal learning environment. The renovated playspace slope provides a variety of passive and active activities.

When Alaa Elghmrawy -one of Mawten co-founders- visited the Nile River school to volunteer in activities with the children, she met Diana Sandor “Didi”. She knew about the renovations they wanted to do for school. So they agreed that Mawten will design and supervise the implementation of school upgrading. A set of criteria are followed to upgrade Nile River school; it ought to safeguard the place’s significant character and respect the school approach and its learning principles while responding to community needs. In addition, the proposed plan aims to upgrade the building’s structural condition, consider re-purposing the unused materials, and ought to respect Al-Baharwa village social traditions.

It is essential to enhance the engagement of the community during project phases. Though the design intervention considered community needs, some design changes occurred in the pre-construction phase. These action plan deviations resulted from community perception, more straightforwd chosen techniques, and materials suiting the low-budget plan. For instance, the wooden screen panels are altered to GRC panels. Moreover, collective implementation can strengthen the community’s sense of belonging; local labour, volunteers, older students, and children participate in the improvement process.
Project Team:
-Design and execution: Mawten: Alaa Elghmrawy, Dina Elmazzahi
-Diana Sandor “Didi”
-Technical consultation: Hesham Emam
-Site workers: Ahmed Abu-Alam, Ibrahim Hussein, Samhi Temam, Ziad Ahmed.
-Fund: Renovations are funded by the German Embassy

Announcement of project on Mawten startup page
Announcement of project on Mawten ISSU
Nile River school FB page