Tile is not the only flooring option

There are other ways

I hope this e-mail finds you well 😊 . It's been a while since I last wrote here.

I've been busy with some inspiring projects and hope to be able to share them (with my clients' permission, of course).

Today I'm writing about a subject that's particularly close to my heart. Floor coverings

According to trendeconomy.com mauritania, senegal, Ivory coast, burkina faso, niger, togo, benin and nigeria imported $483,684,837.526 worth of ceramics in 2022.

These figures show the huge amount of money spent outside these developing countries. Imagine the impact if these millions dollars were injected inside our economies.

Nowadays, in most construction projects in sub-Saharan Africa, the first material people think of for flooring is tiles.

Here are 4 locally available building materials that I recommend to my clients instead of imported tiles:

• 1- Earthen Floor

CP : © ecodesignarchitects

Image from the book: Eathen Floors (Sukita reay crimmel and James Thomson)

• In addition to requiring a small amount of materials for its construction, earth flooring is easy to create.

• Walking barefoot on an earthen floor feels warm to the human body.

• Earth floors help to regulate the temperature inside a building.

• When people think about floor made on earth , they often imagine non-stabilized and dirt but There are carefull finished with drying oils (and often wax) to create a durable , washable finish.

• 2- Terrazzo Floor

CP : ©Perkins+Will Architects

Details from architizer.com

• Durable and hard-wearing

• Easy to maintain

• Aesthetically pleasing

• Healthy and safe

• Environmentally friendly

• Increases the value of the building

• recyclable

• 3- WOOD Floor

CP : © Pedro Kok

Section from: Brooklyn Garden Studio / Hunt Architecture

• Durable and hard-wearing

• Easy to maintain

• Aesthetically pleasing

• Healthy and safe

• Environmentally friendly

• Increases the value of the building

• recyclable

• 4- Stone floor

CP : © Pedro Kok

plan from: Casa_Montemor of Brasil_Arquitetura firm

• Natural stone is recyclable and environmentally friendly.

• Increases the value of the building

• Natural stone can be polished or left rough, depending on the desired effect.

• Durable and hard-wearing

• recyclable

AKWABA

My name is OMON ABULE SOWO. I'm an architect with a passion for African architecture.

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