2025 Architectural Record Awards Winner: Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture

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The Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA) in Gashora, designed by MASS Design Group, is set to become the first ever carbon-positive university by 2044. Informed by One Health principles, which stress the interconnection among ecological, animal, and human health, RICA aims to mitigate the growing environmental challenges in Rwanda, including deforestation, biodiversity loss, erosion of soil, and poor water quality. The buildings were constructed from natural materials, including rammed and compressed earth, wood, stone, and terra-cotta. According to the architects, over 96% of the materials were sourced from within Rwanda. The 3,400-acre campus includes student housing, classrooms, barns, administrative buildings, and agricultural-processing facilities for use by the program’s 250 students. RICA is entirely off-grid too, with a 1.5 megawatt solar array, a variety of irrigation systems, and on-site water-treatment facilities, all of which will also serve as teaching tools.

“This project is a phenomenal example of contextual architecture. MASS Design Group did not import international means of construction into Rwanda to achieve its vision. Instead, the design team worked with local materials, like rammed earth and other methods of construction, to deliver well-crafted spaces.”

– David Farnsworth

Photo © Iwan Baan

DESIGN TEAM

Engineers:
Arup (civil, structural); Transsolar (environmental)

General Contractors:
Mass.Build, Remote Group, Costwise

Client:
Howard G. Buffett Foundation