Lagos Wooden Tower

Idea by

Hermann Kamte

HKA | Hermann Kamte & Associates

6900 Immeuble Arno Marché Central, Yaounde, Cameroon

Hermann Kamte is an award-winning Cameroonian Architect. He is the Founding Associates at HKA | Hermann Kamte & Associates. Hermann has developed a reputation for designing project that are innovative and ecological conscious. He received numerous awards and honors, including the WAFX Prize’s Cultural Identity Prize in 2017 at the World Architecture Festival. Hermann delivered a Keynote Speech alongside H.E. Paul Kagame and H.E. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi during the Africa 2018 Forum in Egypt.

Call for ideas 2019

Build Africa, Shaping The World With Cultural Heritage | The First Proposed Mass Timber In Africa

# Construction

Site-specific cases

Lagos's Wooden Tower is a residential tall timber in Lagos (Nigeria) and "The ﬁrst Wooden Skyscraper proposed in Africa.” As a Winner of the Inaugural WAFX Prize (Cultural Identity), it was reveals among the World's most Forward-Looking Concepts at the World Architecture Festival 2017. The proposed research is focus vertical city, housing crisis and Cultural Heritage. The envelope high lights Yoruba culture with their massive presence in the heart of Lagos. Inspiration comes from the history of Yoruba.

Lagos is the most populate city in Africa, it consists of 16 million inhabitants. Situated in the heart of Ikory, the most popular and the richest residential site of Nigeria, Lagos’s tower is the unique wooden structure. Wood is Marketable, serviceable, biodegradable, affordable, sustainable and ecological. The studied technology is an entire wooden skeleton with the Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) system for load-bearing and a non-load bearing structure.

Lagos is the oldest site of Benin Empire and it is awesome to see that there is always a traditional hierarchy in this modern city. Obe yet symbolises the king of the man, the king of Lagos state. This tower is influenced by the contest ‘they don’t fuck it’, but it wants to be integrated into the city life.

The whole is oriented to maximise daylight and natural ventilation. The wooden envelope provides shading from the heat of the direct sun around the shape. Plants belt around each floor contribute to creating fresh air flow and keep a constant microclimate into living space while providing a visual comfort and aesthetic.

The old existing building is located on the highbrow Bourdillon Road with picturesque vegetation. It counts 4 blocks housing units. Each consists of 4 bedrooms and 3 bedroom apartments distributed on 4 floors. There are some amenities: Swimming Pools, Gymnasium, Tennis courts, Children’s Playground, Parking lots, Borehole and water treatment, Sewage treatment plants and electricity Generator.