Libreville is the densely populated capital city of Gabon in West equatorial Africa. Due to the country’s difficult and unplanned growing pains the government has enacted the Green Gabon Initiative in an effort to create sustainable development while preserving the national rainforest.

The challenging tropical climate allowed for some unique design solutions utilizing the consistent wind and available daylight. This is a preliminary design concept for a proposed Agences No1 building in Libreville. The existing topography was advantageous to creating on site parking for the building tenants. The external stair tower also serves as a structure for the vertical wind turbine providing optimum elevation and exposure to the consistent wind.

INNOVATIVE DESIGN FEATURES:

• Effective daylight harvesting and natural ventilation
• Roof-top solar array and wind turbine to accommodate a significant percentage of the building electrical and hot-water demands
• Low albedo paving and roofing materials to reduce the urban heat island effect
• Rain-water collection/ storage for irrigation and other non-potable uses
• Vegetative roofing to provide urban gardens reducing stormwater surges and urban heat island effects
• Extensive use of vertical and horizontal shade structures to provide adequate protection in the equatorial climate
• Community connectivity with a pedestrian friendly Agences No1 development in the core of the city