Yacht Club Sketches

Recently we were looking through some of Ross' folders filled with sketches and discovered these beautifully hand drawn designs for the Dar es Salaam Yacht Club. This was a project Ross had really been enjoying; he was sending us lots of beach photos! 

We don't know a lot about the project, except that Ross and his collaborator Llatzer Planas had entered their competition proposal for the renewal of the whole DYC site and won. The building had to be built and completed without Ross, but the sketches provide a feeling for the direction he would have taken it.

Earlier this year, Anoek De Smet (a friend of Ross & Elif's), visited the now almost completed Dar es Salaam Yacht Club. Anoek has published an article in Anza Magazine "Sculptor of Shelter Shaped from the Earth into the Landscape" detailing Ross' design stages. She has shared some images with us that photographer Nicholas Calvin and Anoek took during their visit. Thanks so much Anoek.

Sydney University Faculty of Architecture, Design & Planning

The inaugural Ross Langdon Design for Sustainment Scholarship has been awarded to Harry Catterns. Craig & Amy traveled to Sydney to present the $2,000 cheque to Harry at the faculty's scholarships and prizes evening.

Currently in his final semester, Harry was an energetic and passionate scholarship applicant. He has worked on sanitisation projects in PNG and has an ongoing interest to continue work and research in this area. We are thrilled to be able to support him at this stage of his emerging career and look forward to seeing what he achieves next.

Highlighted on Designboom

An excellent detailed article on designboom about the Ross Langdon Health Education Centre. Thanks designboom.

Project of the Day: Thank-you Architizer for featuring the Ross Langdon Health Education Centre as your Project of the Day. 

Liter of Light: A great article touching on the use of recycled bottles to help create light in the Ross Langdon Health Education Centre. Thanks Inhabitat.

Featured on archdaily

The Ross Langdon Health Education Centre is currently being featured on archdaily.com.

You can see more images, design details, sections & elevations in the article here.

Ross Langdon Health Education Centre in Mannya/Uganda

We are so grateful to Felix and his team for their continued work towards completing Ross' projects. Ross was working on 18 projects at the time of his death, this was one of them.

Felix Holland of Studio FH Architects writes:

We are happy to report that another of Ross’ designs has been recently completed. The ‘Ross Langdon Health Education Centre’ as it has been named is a small community hall located in the village of Mannya in Rakai, South-western Uganda. It provides space for about 150 people, sitting on simple clay tile steps, and for a speaker, standing on a small elevated platform. Adjacent to the hall is a room for private meetings and a store. At the front is a walkway covered by a pergola providing shade for informal gatherings and relaxation.

As good as we can tell in his absence, Ross envisioned the Health Education Centre as a small pavilion, entirely inward-looking and made of the most basic of building materials available in Southern Uganda: eucalyptus poles as the main structure with clay brick infills and clay tile floors. There are no windows, and instead the building envelop filters light in various ways; perforations in the brickwork, a gap between walls and roof, a high-level roof vent with skylight and the ‘Liters of Light’ that illuminate the stage. The roof cover is made of zinc-al roof sheets supported by Eucalyptus trusses, and the ceiling is made of purpose-designed handmade ‘Mukeka’ reed mats.

Design and construction was a real team effort and not a straight-forward process at all. At the time of Ross’ death, the building was at schematic design stage, just about developed enough to be submitted for planning approval, but nowhere near ready to be priced and built. The design team led by Felix Holland of Studio FH Architects went ahead on a bit of a detective mission deciphering Ross’ design intentions, guessing at times and disagreeing at others, and finally realising a building that we hope does justice to his ideas and visions.

Our thanks go to Tim Diamond of the Cotton On Foundation who was absolutely unwavering in his determination to complete the project in Ross’ memory, to his family who gives us great support in what we are doing, and finally to Ross himself for leaving behind this little gem of a building.

Design Architect: Ross Langdon

Implementing Architect:  Studio FH Architects

Structural Engineer:  MBW Consulting

Quantity Surveyor: Dudley Kasibante and Partners

Contractor: CMD Investments

Developer: Cotton On Foundation

Photographs: Will Boase

Location: Mannya, Uganda

Area: 260m²

Project year: 2016

Ross' continued influence in architecture

In the below article, Terrain Architects discuss Ross Langdon as their inspiration for their design methodology - developing a relationship with local communities and using local skills and materials. 

http://architectureau.com/articles/nomadic-architecture-terrain-architects/

 "We admire Ross Langdon. His way of thinking about the architect’s role in Africa and his contribution through architecture encourages us to be present." Ikko Kobayashi and Fumi Kashimura.

http://terrain-arch.com/index.html

Thank-you Ikko & Fumi for remembering Ross and pursuing such a valuable and interesting design practise.