Ecological Development of
Valley View University, Accra, Ghana

To become the first ecological university in Africa is the aim of the VVU and for that reason an ecological master plan for the whole campus was developed in cooperation of the VVU, their master plan committee and the German Bauhaus-University Weimar in 2002.

The creation of a sustainable campus led to the formation of an interdisciplinary team with a common goal: to develop, implement and evaluate sustainable methods of urban planning, building, sanitation and agriculture. Supported by the German Ministry of Education and Research the group includes public as well as private partners from Ghana and Germany.

 

 

 

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

The master plan allows an extension of the university in a sustainable and ecological way, which takes the economic and social situation as well as the climatic characteristics of the country into account.

The implementation of the master plan shall be a regional and supra-regional pilot project. With that concept, the VVU wants to set an example for other African countries.
The design of the ecological master plan is a basic requirement for the development of a water and nutrient cycle management concept for the whole campus.
Energy and water are limited and precious resources; therefore it is very necessary to build in a resource-saving and sustainable way. The aim was to develop a coherent and holistic concept that allows dealing with landscape and the resources of the campus as well as sustainable and ecological building which goes easy on resources. In order to create a feasible overall concept, it is necessary to develop conclusive partial concepts.

 

Design Idea

A wide entrance avenue with palm trees on both sides leads directly to the church, the spiritual centre of the Seventh-day Adventist campus. Here the visitor is getting the character and the spirit of the university. Next to the central church square, the most important buildings like administration, auditorium, cafeteria and library are situated. Behind those buildings the departments are placed on both sides of the green heart within the existing oval.
On both sides outside of the oval, student hostels and guest houses are located and ensure a campus of short walking distances. South-west of the campus, behind the green belt a housing area for faculties and their families is sited.

About 20 ha of the campus at the south-east are agricultural farmland. Here can grow fruits and vegetables, which are fertilised by human nutrients and green waste of the campus. This supports the self-support of the cafeteria, where exclusively vegetarian meals are served.
On the campus area there are several non-university facilities, which should on one hand improve the quality of life of the campus' inhabitants and on the other hand increase the attractiveness of the university to the people from outside.
Companies in the light industrial area as well as agricultural holdings from the university can be involved, with their activities and practical offers, in the teaching programme of the VVU.

 

What makes the Master Plan ecological?

In order to reduce site development costs, the existing infrastructure with the oval and the main access road is used. Fundamental decisions for the master plan were made within the traffic concept. By concentration and propitious arrangement of the buildings, the length of roads and paths can be reduced to a large extent. The central campus area should be free of traffic. Access should only be allowed for service vehicles. All vehicles stay on a parking space near the entrance. As a result, costs and surface area for infrastructure as well as time can be saved by the principle of short distances for the campus.
The long and narrow buildings are arranged perpendicular to the main wind direction for optimal cross ventilation. By the compound arrangement of the buildings cool and green courtyards can be formed. “Stadtschaft” enables rainwater retention. It is healthy for body and spirit and uses and delivers nutrients at the same time.
By the reduction of the traffic area and by concentrating the building arrangement, a lot of the area can be used as green space. This improves linger quality as well as the microclimate. Green spaces like the green belt, the mango plantation, a botanical garden and agricultural farmland can be created and developed within walking distance. Different local plants, an odour garden, shade-giving trees and retention swales and ditches are some of the design examples, which all work as a single ecological cell that improve as a cell-compound the biological activity on campus. To check erosion, the surface should be biologically activated by using rainwater or purified waste water and its nutrients on site.