TYPOLOGY: Institutional

Olympic Committee of Cabo Verde - Headquarters

Status: Under Construction

The new headquarters for the Olympic Committee of Cabo Verde is built from what the island throws away. Its walls are made of used tires packed with earth and thousands of glass bottles set in mortar, held within a reinforced concrete frame. On the outside, the tire walls are buried under an earth berm that wraps the back of the building, tying it into the hillside and using the soil’s mass to keep the interior cool through the heat of the day. On the inside, the bottles become walls of light, glowing as the light moves across them. Solar panels on the roof carry the same idea up to the top. Toward the sports fields, it shows a clean white face, a slanted structure and long bands of glass. For an organization that stands for discipline, endurance and national pride, the building makes its own case. Sport here is not only about winning; it is about what a country can make from what it already has.

Location: Achada Grange Tras, Cabo Verde
Size: 18,191 sq ft

Architecture design: Sidi Gomes & Vasco Ramos