Picture by BSHF.

Geoff was invited by David Ireland, Director of the Building and Social Housing Foundation, to visit Senegal to review a shortlisted project for the 2017 World Habitat Awards which the foundation sponsors and organises.

Geoff was one of several trustees invited to visit projects in different countries and was in Senegal between 8-11 December 2016.

During this short time, he visited projects in Dakar, Podor, and Saint Louis, plus some villages, covering large distances up to the Mauritania border.

The projects involved reviving the traditional Nubian mudbrick vaulting system of roofing that does not require any formwork during construction and has been used in a range of building from housing, maternity clinics, community centres and mosques. To read Geoff’s blog, click here.

Here are some of Geoff’s personal photographs:

The projects. Maternity clinic (pic. 1) and house (pic. 2) using Nubian vault roofing.

Everyday life. Women benefitting from the projects (pic. 3); great hospitality by the local community (pic. 4).