New Talent Orkidstudio

For these architects, the best way to achieve social change is through the process of building.

- Lee Ivett

Orkidstudio is much more than an architecture practice. The small Nairobi based team is equal parts contractor, designer, and educator, and treats each project as an opportunity to innovate and empower. In this way, it goes to great lengths to procure the right materials, develop new construction methods, and train and equip local laborers with valuable skills, all while securing financing itself.

Founded in 2008, Orkidstudio was the brainchild of three students at the Welsh School of Architecture: James Mitchell, Julissa Kiyenje, and Su Mei Tan. Just out of their freshman year, they had already been looking for an alternative model for practice and found it after traveling to Uganda to help build a community kitchen. Upon graduating, Mitchell began lecturing at the Mackintosh School of Architecture and relocated the studio from Cardiff, Wales, to Glasgow, where I first encountered their work. Mostly I was skeptical of an altruistic approach that appeared to mirror the dramatic surge in poverty tourism, in which Western architecture students got their hands dirty in impoverished communities in African nations such as Kenya and Rwanda. But I also had complete respect for the quality of their designs for small schools, healthcare facilities, and community centers, not to mention the quantity of output and the level of dedication coming from what were incredibly young people.