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Botswana Innovation Hub brings SHoP Architects to Gaborone

By ⋅ September 21, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
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Aerial view of the ambitious Innovation Hub

To be located along Gaborone’s Airport Road, the Botswana Innovation Hub by SHoP Architects will be the first state of the art building designed by an internationally recognized architecture firm within Botswana.  SHoP Architects, an American-based firm, beat some of the world’s recognized architectural giants, such as Foster+Partners (UK), Gensler (USA), Perkins & Will (USA), Studio Egret West Ltd. (UK), and Studio Amati Architects (Italy).

The hub will consist of 270,000 sq ft of  laboratories and offices, which will support technology-driven and knowledge-intensive local and foreign businesses.  As an icon of the city and country, the design brief required the incorporation of cutting-edge sustainable technology, which SHoP Architects cleverly integrated into the roof of the building.  By combining a series of active and passive systems, the roofscape design addresses issues of overhangs for shading, mechanisms to collect and re-use water, and both passive and active photovoltaic systems to harness solar energy.

Detail of the integrated courtyards

Read more reviews here:

SHoP Architects

Arch Daily

Design Boom

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6 Responses to “Botswana Innovation Hub brings SHoP Architects to Gaborone”

  1. The images looks very impressive. Wish boidus can get more images for us to apppreciate it. It will also be nice to see where it will be located. We are dying for an icon of botswana!

    Posted by kopano | 23. Sep, 2010, 5:23 pm
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  2. i can’t wait to see th interior design of th building

    Posted by taviso ed masibi | 14. Feb, 2011, 1:23 pm
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  3. what a master peace. thinking green at its best!

    Posted by emang Lesang | 26. Jan, 2012, 10:08 am
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  4. wow, this will be a giant piece of art.

    Posted by Jonathan Ramaditse | 18. Jul, 2012, 12:58 pm
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  5. This is indeed magnificent and what is more admireable is the design to harness photovoltaic energy for use in the complex. This the future of Botswana indeed.

    Posted by MATTHEWS M. LETSHOLO | 25. Jul, 2012, 12:23 pm
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  6. I am however desapointed at the Twin Towers in the new CBD,I had anticipated some huge skyscrapers only to find mere flats,bt dis here is something to look forward to,n going green is the way to go.

    Posted by M. Sello | 08. Jan, 2013, 8:08 am
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