EASTGATE CENTRE

LOCATION

The Eastgate Centre designed by architect Mick Pearce in conjunction with engineers at Arup Associates is a large office and shopping complex In Harare, Zimbabwe.”

INSPIRED BY: Inspired by the way the insects use very limited resources to create ventilated mounds, permeating them with holes over the surface, Pearce set out to construct a building also peppered with holes all over the building’s “skin

CONCEPT- Self-cooling mounds of African termites

                  The building has no air-conditioning or heating but regulates its temperature with a passive cooling system inspired by the self-cooling mounds of African termites. The structure, however, does not look like a termite mound to function like one and instead aesthetically draws from indigenous Zimbabwean masonry.

The Eastgate, center , largely made of concrete, has a ventilation system which operates in a similar way. Outside air that is drawn in is either which is hotter, the building concrete or the air. It is then vented into the building’s floors and offices before exiting via chimneys at the top. The complex also consists of two buildings side by side that are separated by an open space that is covered by glass and open to the local breezes.