Building With, Not For: The Power of Local Collaboration in Design

Local Community Workshop for Secondary School

Last year, our design team traveled twice to Senegal to host workshops with local residents, students, and partner NGOs. What began as a research initiative quickly grew into a vital conversation—one that reshaped how we understand user-oriented architectural design and long-term sustainability.

Too often, architecture is treated as a finished product delivered to a community. Yet through our discussions, we were reminded that meaningful design begins with listening. Parents spoke about safety and the value of education. Students shared ideas for flexible learning spaces. Elders emphasized cultural heritage and resilience. By hearing these voices and reading the local context, we realized that successful projects are not simply built for communities, but co-created with them.

This dialogue was more than feedback—it became a roadmap. Local NGOs stressed the importance of long-term vision and practical maintenance strategies that communities can manage well beyond construction. Students challenged us to think about adaptability: how classrooms or gathering spaces might evolve over the next decade. Together, these insights affirmed that sustainability is not only environmental—it is also social and cultural.

As designers, our responsibility goes beyond producing buildings. It is about cultivating trust and ensuring our work reflects real needs. Collaborating with local communities grounds our projects in everyday life, making them more resilient, more inclusive, and ultimately more human. This is also why we continue to meet with local NGOs every month, to sustain dialogue and accountability.

The workshop was a powerful reminder that design is most impactful when it becomes a shared language. By engaging directly with the people who will live, learn, and grow in these spaces, we are not just shaping structures—we are shaping futures.