Work is now underway to create a new Global Faculty Centre at the University of Global Health (UGHE) Butaro campus in Rwanda.
FBW Group is providing architectural and engineering design and supervision services for the building project.
The delivery team officially broke ground at the site, marking the start of the construction phase.
Once completed, the state-of-the-art multi-storey centre will host the university’s global faculty, travelling from across the world to teach and provide specialised care to patients at the Butaro Level 2 Teaching Hospital.
Funded by the Cummings Foundation, the centre is part of the Paul Farmer UGHE-Harvard University Collaborative that aims to sustain collaboration and exchange of faculty between the two institutions.
The project is part of a wider ongoing development plan for the Butaro campus. FBW has a long-standing relationship with UGHE and last year completed the masterplan for its campus expansion.
That development will deliver state-of-the-art facilities for students as the university, based in the Burera district. builds on its work producing much-needed, high-quality health professionals.
The masterplan, led by FBW’s Rwandan team based in the capital Kigali, includes new state-of-the art environmentally responsive university buildings.
They include new faculty offices, a new library with outdoor art galleries linking classrooms with science buildings to the wider student and faculty residences.
All have been sensitively designed within the existing campus’ rolling hillside setting. Recreational facilities, including sports grounds, and spaces for convention and events are also part of the overall development.
Aiming to cater for more than 400 students by 2025, the medical and public health school which is embedded in a Global Health Equity care system represents a major investment in the country’s next generation of healthcare professionals.
Several new graduate and post graduate programmes will provide specialised training for medical experts to lead the response to the ever-challenging national and global public health care demands of the 21st century.
The masterplan which includes several public open spaces, designed to foster a feeling of equity and community, as well as quiet areas where students can meet, study, and share ideas draws influence from the setting of the university as a hilltop “acropolis/city on a hill” and its distinct local climate.
The overall masterplan includes the design of more than 17 new campus buildings
The first phase of the 250-acre Butaro campus, located 80 miles north of Kigali, was opened by the Partners In Health organisation in 2019.
Stuart Harley, FBW director of operations, said: “The ceremony to break ground at the site was a great way to start 2024.
“FBW is proud to be associated with the project and the work we are carrying out to support the education of Rwanda’s public health professionals.”
From its earliest days, FBW Group has been involved in delivering life-changing medical developments across East Africa.
They include a number of clinics and hospitals which today continue to serve remote rural areas and their communities.
Today a cornerstone of FBW’s work is the development and reconstruction of urban and rural hospitals, providing practical solutions, responding to the local conditions and at the same time creating healthy environments for patients.
Many of our present clients are international health and research organisations, bringing first-world specialist facilities to the region.