The Brief

The client’s ambition was to transform an existing residential property in Nylon-Bastos into a welcoming and purpose-designed primary school. The programme required classrooms with dedicated toilets, administrative offices, a teachers’ room, library, sick bay, storage, kitchen and canteen facilities, together with safe recreational spaces. The school also needed to support a bilingual Franco-Cameroonian educational programme, personalised learning and small class sizes. The central challenge was to accommodate these requirements while retaining and adapting the useful buildings and infrastructure already present on the site.

The Context

The project began with a three-bedroom bungalow and several ancillary structures on an approximately 1,594 m² residential plot in Yaoundé. The design process required a careful assessment of which buildings could be adapted, which elements needed replacing and where additional teaching accommodation could be introduced. The site also contained a swimming pool, generator and limited external areas that needed to be reorganised safely. Particular attention was given to controlled access, pupil movement, accessibility, supervision and the relationship between classrooms, administration, catering facilities and spaces for recreation.

Our Response

Our design reorganised the existing bungalow to accommodate five classrooms, administrative offices, staff facilities and toilets serving the teaching spaces. Existing annexes were adapted to provide a library, storage, a sick bay and child-accessible washing facilities. New two-storey teaching blocks increased the school’s capacity, while a separate two-storey building brought together additional classrooms, a kitchen and a canteen overlooking a new central playground. The wider site strategy also introduced a multipurpose sports area, repositioned essential services and incorporated protective fencing around the swimming pool.

The Outcome

The project transformed a former residential property into a coherent educational environment supporting learning, administration, recreation and pupil wellbeing. By combining the adaptive reuse of existing structures with carefully positioned new buildings, the design made efficient use of the site while providing the specialist spaces required by a modern primary school. Today, École Primaire 4 Étoiles offers a secure setting with equipped classrooms, a library, computer facilities and areas for sport and play, supporting its ambition to help every pupil “Aim High.”

Visit the School: Ecole primaire 4 etoiles