Casamance has a strong community living and bringing it into the foreground is essential for a place that is to be built by the community and be used by the community.

The say of the community is “it takes a whole community to raise a child” and a school is the place to represent the community living where learning and growing together is the prime aspect. “Keystone” is that one place that gets the community together and holds in place like the keystone of an arch.The community and the school together are to create a strong gateway to the future.

The design of KEYSTONE-CASAMENCE is derived from all that casamance stands for and is inspired by more than a few aspects of the place such as the independent nature, the fishing expertise, the birds of the place, the cultural integrity and the ambition to grow, rise and reach new heights.

The ideation and the inspiration for the design are in multiple number and intensity, however, the challenge to develop a design that is modular in nature and adaptive to look complete in each phase has guided the design to what it is now. Although the place is the key for an empowered community, the school is to inspire everyone to grow and give a place to gather.

The place is designed to have greater cultural focus and laid a high seat for the same. This is seen in the creation of open courtyard and multi-cultural spaces facing the class rooms and amphitheater.