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Localworks

@localworksug

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Localworks is a design & build collaborative, based in Uganda and Kenya, specialising in the design and realisation of contextual green architecture.

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Turns out, you don’t have to be an architect to think like a designer.

At one of our recent Localtalks, Christopher Cripps explored participatory design and the value of listening to the people who actually use the places we design.

As he put it:
“Everybody’s a designer in space.”
From moving cardboard buildings around a table to rethinking how people enter a town, the conversation was full of examples of what happens when we let people have a say in shaping their surroundings.

Missed the conversation? Watch the full session on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F13DeCZwXeU , alongside more LocalTalks conversations. by @localworksug

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23 days ago

Some good news from Bidi Bidi!

The Bidi Bidi Performing Arts Centre has been named the Overall Winner of the 2026 Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA) Social Impact Award.

We’re grateful, and honestly, a little humbled by it. The project was always a collaborative one. Working alongside @hassell_studio , the lead designers, we shared a belief that this could be more than a building; a place shaped by, and useful to, the community around it.

But a building only becomes what it is when people bring it to life.

That is why so much of our gratitude goes to @sinaloketa , who continues to fill the Performing Arts Centre with music, performance, creativity and purpose every day.

And to @to.org_ , whose extraordinary vision and commitment made the whole thing possible.

Built from compressed earth blocks excavated on site, with an amphitheatre, recording studio and rainwater-harvesting oculus, the centre is a product of its place, its people and the possibilities that come from working together.

We’re very thankful to the CAA jury for recognising the project, even more thankful to everyone who helped make it happen, and to the people of Bidi Bidi who continue to make the building their own.

A good project is rarely the work of one person or one practice. This one certainly wasn’t.

Thank you.

#localworksug #studiofharchitects #architects #architecture #construction #building #uganda by @localworksug

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a month ago

We are currently looking for a Quality Control Officer and a Graduate Architect to join our team in Kampala and Nairobi.

At Localworks, we work across architecture, interior design, and sustainable construction on projects that are rooted in place, driven by purpose, and built to last. We are looking for individuals who bring not just the right skills, but the right mindset, people who are thoughtful, committed, and energised by work that makes a difference.

If you or someone you know might be a good fit for either role, please visit our opportunities page (https://localworks.eco/opportunities) for full details on both positions and how to apply. by @localworksug

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a month ago

Our Lady Victoria Monastery won the Religious and Spiritual Building Architecture Award at the inaugural African International Design Awards.

Built entirely of sustainably fired clay brick, this project is our attempt to tropicalise the 1,000 year old Cistercian building tradition.

The second most important material after brick is daylight. With its source often concealed, we were not only using it as a spatial element but we even expressed the seasonal sun path in the interior of the church, like a walk-in sun-dial.

#localworksug #architects #architecture #construction #building #uganda #eastafrica by @localworksug

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3 months ago

The Best Architecture Here Isn't The Building.

Luxury resorts often try to impress with bigger buildings.

Nile Safari Lodge does the opposite.

Instead of dominating the landscape, the architecture almost disappears beneath a series of floating thatched roofs. Walls dissolve, breezes flow freely, and every path reveals a new view of the Nile, making nature—not the building—the main experience.

What's even more remarkable is how little the lodge depends on technology.

There is no mechanical cooling anywhere on the property. Raised timber structures, open-air planning, natural ventilation, deep overhangs, and carefully oriented roofs keep the interiors comfortable in Uganda's hot, humid climate. Solar panels power the entire lodge, while river water is filtered, solar-heated, and responsibly treated before returning to the environment.

This isn't sustainable architecture because it adds more systems.

It's sustainable because it asks the building to do more with less.

Sometimes the greatest architectural gesture is knowing when to step back and let the landscape take the lead.

Nile Safari Lodge
Uganda
2019

Architecture: @localworksug
Photography: Will Boase Photography

Presskit available @bampr.co

#localworksug #NileSafariLodge #Localworks #EcoArchitecture #HospitalityDesign #SustainableArchitecture #BiophilicDesign #SafariLodge #PassiveDesign #AfricanArchitecture #NatureInspired #architecture_hunter #architectures #architecture_view #architectureanddesign #ArchitectureStudents #architecturephotography #dezeenlovers #dezeen #architects #architectural #chinaarchitecture #colorarchitecture #modernarchitecture #spatialdesign #residentialdesign #architecturalphotography #boldarchitecture #designthinking #architectureconcept by @localworksug

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3 months ago

Over the past three months, much of our work has centred around master planning — a stage of the design process we particularly enjoy.

It is at this early moment that relationships with clients begin to take shape, project briefs are refined, and sites are carefully explored and ‘listened to’.

A well-considered masterplan, grounded in a deep understanding of function, context, and budget, becomes the project’s ‘spine’ or ‘north arrow’: a guiding framework that provides direction over time without becoming limiting or overly prescriptive.

While not every client has the time or patience to invest in a dedicated master planning phase, our experience consistently shows that its long-term value to a project is immense.

Recent masterplans have included a training center for innovation and entrepreneurship around conservation near Masindi, a secondary and vocational school campus in Nakaseke, and a housing estate in Kigali. Across all three projects, what we appreciated most was the interdisciplinary nature of the creative process.

Architects, landscape designers, civil engineers, building services engineers, environmental consultants, and cost consultants each brought their own expertise and perspective, while remaining genuinely open to one another’s ideas. It was a process defined not by rigid silos, but by collaboration and the celebration of diverse ways of thinking.

#localworksug #architects #architecture #construction #building #uganda #eastafrica by @localworksug

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4 months ago

Physical models have gone a little bit out of fashion but we still enjoy making them. We usually treat them as real working models and we like them for their potential to be chipped and chopped. We don’t mind them looking a little rough around the edges for some of our projects on more undulating terrain such as the one shown. The exciting topography also acts as a comfortable bed for Archie, the office cat.

#localworksug #architects #architecture #construction #building #uganda #eastafrica by @localworksug

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5 months ago

July marked the start of this year’s internship programme with our onboarding session, followed by an induction led by Localworks Director and Principal Architect, Felix Holland.

This year, we’re hosting over 15 interns from diverse backgrounds, including architecture, engineering, quantity surveying and high school students exploring future career paths in the built environment.

What makes our internship unique is the opportunity to experience the full Localworks design and build ecosystem. University interns spend one half of their three month placement on site or in the material laboratories and the other half at the office where they engage in the design process and the foundations research programmes. High school students join us for a one month immersive experience.

Seeing young people learn, ask questions, contribute to research and gain practical experience has made this a truly rewarding journey.

We look forward to welcoming another cohort in 2027.
#LocalworksFoundation #InternshipProgramme #BuiltEnvironment #Architecture #Engineering

QuantitySurveying Research DesignBuild Innovation FutureProfessionals LearningByDoing
Uganda by @localworksug

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3 months ago

Another week, another #32Thursday #ConstructionUpdate 🏗️🚧

A major milestone! Our contractors @localworksug have cast the first-floor slab over the accessible bedroom and kiosks. Slab casting is one of the most intensive stages of construction, with the entire team working together to mix, transport, pour and level the concrete.

Along with the beams and columns, these reinforced concrete slabs are some of the few structural elements made entirely of concrete. They provide the strength and stability needed to support the second floor and roof, working alongside the rammed earth walls to form the building's load-bearing structure.

Would you like to visit the site? Email info@32east.org to schedule a visit.

You can also support the completion of Kampala's first purpose-built art centre through the #linkinbio.

Design Architects: @newmakersbureau
With contributions from @localworksug's architectural team, Studio FH. by @localworksug

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3 months ago

The Akili School is a very special project on our desk. A new boarding school to be built in Uganda competing at an international level for secondary education.

Student Hostels
A welcoming spatial design balancing refuge nooks with vibrant social spaces

“TAS is not just a school project - it’s an institution in the making. Today is about clarity: how dignity, curiosity, and warmth come together spatially, materially, and visually.”

“Akili”
[noun] primarily means intelligence, mind, intellect, or wisdom.

Architecture: Localworks
Interior Architecture and Product design: Studio Something Something by @localworksug

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3 months ago

The Akili School is a very special project on our desk. A new boarding school to be built in Uganda competing at an international level for secondary education.

Teaching spaces
Open layouts, celebrating natural light and promoting future-thinking teaching spaces

“TAS is not just a school project - it’s an institution in the making. Today is about clarity: how dignity, curiosity, and warmth come together spatially, materially, and visually.”

“Akili”
[noun] primarily means intelligence, mind, intellect, or wisdom.

Architecture: Localworks
Interior Architecture and Product design: Studio Something Something by @localworksug

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3 months ago

The Akili School is a very special project on our desk. A new boarding school to be built in Uganda competing at an international level for secondary education.

Admin Building
The heart of The Akili School (TAS)

“TAS is not just a school project - it’s an institution in the making. Today is about clarity: how dignity, curiosity, and warmth come together spatially, materially, and visually.”

“Akili”
[noun] primarily means intelligence, mind, intellect, or wisdom.

Architecture: Localworks
Interior Architecture and Product design: Studio Something Something by @localworksug

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3 months ago