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Floating A-Frame Addresses a Stormy Climate Future for Nigerian Aquatic Slum

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The Makoko Floating School is a prototype structure that addresses climate change for the aquatic slum district of Makoko in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria.

The building is designed to adapt to the constant flooding and storm surges that regularly inundate the former fishing village in Lagos where over 100,000 people live in houses on stilts in the waters.

The project was initiated, designed and built by NLÉ, the studio founded by Nigerian-born architect Kunlé Adeyemi, in collaboration with the Makoko Waterfront Community.

Instead, the new Makoko Floating School was supported on a pontoon and floated out on the water, bypassing the unpredictable water levels that cause regular flooding.

The 220 meter A-frame structure was put together by local residents, using wooden offcuts from a nearby sawmill and locally grown bamboo.

Standing 10m high with a 10m x 10m base, its triangular profile allows the building to accommodate three storeys, yet with a low center of gravity, keeping it stable even in heavy wind.

Its open construction means that even in very extreme weather, it can safely house a hundred adults.

Designed for a region with unpredictable water levels that cause regular flooding, NLÉ sees the floating school as a prototype, that could be used for any purpose.

They proposed the mass production of the module in Lagos State for the Lagos Water Communities Project within the African Water Cities research project.

NLÉ self-funded the project initially, and later received research funds from Heinrich Boll Stiftung and the UNDP/Federal Ministry of Environment Africa Adaptation Programme.

“In many ways, Makoko epitomises the most critical challenges posed by urbanisation and climate change in coastal Africa,” said the architects. “At the same time, it also inspires possible solutions and alternatives to the invasive culture of land reclamation.”