Fourth year visit to the LRC (Learning Resource Centre) at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa

On Thursday, 18th November 2021, the fourth year class visited the Learning Resource Centre at the
Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Karen.


The visit to the Learning Resource Centre is part of an annual tour organized by the Fourth Year Studio
Staff aimed at helping the students learn from a case study of holistic environmental design of large
gathering spaces. Lessons on environmental design and the design of large gathering spaces is part of the outlined learning objectives spelled out in the Department of Architecture 4th Year Portfolio Curriculum.


As such, the Learning Resource Centre which consists of a 3,000 seater ultra-modern library, a 1,200
seater state-of-the-art auditorium and a 500 seater cafeteria, provides one of the best learning
opportunities for students of Architecture on environmental design and design of large gathering spaces.
In addition, the Learning Resource Centre was awarded the national winner of Green Building Award in
2014, it was recognized as one of the top six innovative green buildings in Africa by the German Media
House - Deutsche Welle (https://p.dw.com/p/3D1ff), one of the top ten greenest buildings in Africa by
Africa.com (https://africa.com/top-10-greenest-buildings-africa/) and is widely recognised as an
example of industry best practice.


Beyond providing the students with lessons on environmental design and design of large gathering
spaces, the visit to the Learning Resource Centre also gave the students an opportunity to explore the
building with the architect of the facility; Architect Musau Kimeu. Architect Kimeu is the Chairman of
the Department of Architecture and a member of the Fourth Year studio staff team and sharing his
practical experience and knowledge on the design of the project during the Studio learning session at the Learning Resource Centre, greatly inspired the students.


To explore the great acoustics in the Learning Resource Centre’s Auditorium, a few of the Fourth year
students namely Richard Migisha, Joy Kanyiva Mutiso, Blanes Kiambigi, Tabir Khan and Rebecca
Bukachi prepared and made live musical performances at the facility to the class.