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KIVU GUEST HOUSE
A sustainable and locally designed guest house nestled on the serene shores of Lake Kivu in Rwanda, with a breathtaking view of the Democratic Republic of Congo, surrounded by a curated landscape of native plants.
Project Type //
Guest house, New built
Chronology//
2019-2020
Location //
Nyamasheke, Rwanda
Team//
Nerea Amoros Elorduy – Lead architect
Jonathan Kateega – Visualisations
Client//
Private
The guest house, called Coffee Lodge, is located on a working farm by the shores of Lake Kivu in the Western region of Rwanda. It has only five rooms and aims to provide a farm-to-table experience, where guests can savour the farm’s produce and gardens and learn about the coffee plantations surrounding it. Guests can also swim in the lake, camp on the grounds, or explore areas reserved for larger groups, backpackers, and families.
The lodge was designed to offer stunning views of Lake Kivu and the DRC mountains while maintaining guest privacy and providing incredible sunrises and sunsets. The construction consists of three hand fans or arches: one for the service areas on the east side, which includes apartments for service, laundry, storage, and kitchen, with direct access to the common area containing a bar, a chill-out area, toilets, a chimney, a sofa area, a terrace, a bonfire, and the entrance to the dining area. On the west side, to the left of the reception area, are the rooms, each with a small entrance, toilet, desk, king-sized bed, balcony, and outdoor shower.
The guest house aims to have a small ecological footprint, which affects the choice of construction materials such as artisanal ceramic roof tiles, rammed earth walls, CEB walls, terracotta tiles, local stone for floors, and local wood for furniture and openings. Water management, energy production, and waste management systems are also designed with this in mind
Guests can access the dock over the lake from the main common area by descending through the terraced lawns, where they can camp and play various lawn games. The dock is ideal for swimming, canoeing, kayaking, or docking a boat.
The large piece of land where the guest house is located is a working farm and a test for growing coffee and other crops such as macadamia nuts, avocados, bananas, pineapples, and green beans. The farm also has a kitchen garden for the guest house and a network of paths for hiking and enjoying the diverse indigenous plants, grasses, and trees.
CREATIVE ASSEMBLAGES 