Against the backdrop of a brush-covered hilltop in central Malawi, aims to address high infant

and maternal mortality rates by placing high-risk expectant mothers in close proximity to medical
professionals during the final weeks of pregnancy.
The team conceived of the waiting village as a cluster of small, separate buildings. Riffing on the
traditional Malawian home, their scheme comprises three units of three rooms each, with four
beds per room. It also increases the number of bathrooms, placing two toilet/shower facilities in
every 12-person unit,

Covered pathways connect the units to one another and to shared spaces (a kitchen, medical
consultation and screening room, and classroom), providing shelter from the harsh sun and
heavy seasonal rains, while also fostering a sense of community “In Malawi, people spend most
of their time outside, chatting and doing chores, so we created courtyards and added overhangs
and benches to the exteriors, to make space for people to interact.”

Local workers constructed the buildings with compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEB)—a
budget-friendly move that also addressed environmental concerns.

MASS did use wood for the trusses supporting the sheet-metal roofs

The team designed the roof geometries with the region’s fluctuating climate in mind. Direct
sunlight does not enter windows, keeping buildings cool during the daytime, but strikes the
upper portions of the tall masonry walls, which passively warm the buildings when temperatures
drop at night. Sharply angled and connected by gutters that channel rainwater into the village’s
catchment system, the roofs are also equipped with solar panels to power the lights.

these women to come and learn a skill, so they can return to their villages not only with a
healthy baby but with new potential and opportunities. Classes on gardening, nutrition, cooking
and family planning are crucial to the program. “All of that is about really impacting and
empowering her to make better and different life decisions that are right for her and her family.”

MASS instead designed small huts that sleep four women each. Clusters of three huts surround
a core of washrooms, showers and a laundry area 12 mothers share. A total of three clusters is
complemented by a room for classes, several outdoor areas and a kitchen.

The designers also had to address Malawi’s extreme climate of very strong rain seasons and very hot dry
seasons. The mothers needed protection from the rain throughout the village, including covered
walkways. But they also needed shaded areas where they would be protected from the sun. “So we really
focused on the roof of the project,” says Gruits. “We looked at the roof to create those overhangs to
shade and to protect from the rain.” Ample outdoor spaces now facilitate education programs and cooking
classes or simply for the women to cook and gather together more comfortably.