MASS Design Group is celebrating the completion of the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda.

Named in collaboration with comedian and television host Ellen DeGeneres, the 12-acre campus is located in the country's Musanze District and Kigali. The campus features three new facilities for education, research, and conservation. It is comprised of a selection of native landscaping and materials assembled by a team of over 2,400 local workers in a demonstration of the studio’s “Purpose Built” process developed by Principal Patricia Gruits and overseen by its new construction arm MASS.Build

MASS Design says it worked with the foundation to design everything – from furnishings to exhibition spaces – in a hands-on collaboration that began several years ago following a $15 million investment from DeGeneres' nonprofit. Michael Murphy, MASS Design Group Founding Principal and Executive director shared that he feels the campus “demonstrates how new infrastructure can catalyze conservation and species protection.”

Murphy continues, "when new buildings, landscapes, and institutions are conceived in the way that the Fossey Fund and Ellen DeGeneres have imagined—to have as much impact as possible—reciprocal opportunities are created. For this campus, that meant the prioritization of local labor, customized fabrication of furniture and fittings created by Rwandan artisans, and environmental stewardship that aligns with the goals of conservation and habitat protection." 

Per the MASS Design Group team: "The campus design took inspiration from Dian’s original tent nestled in the forest at the Karisoke Research Center more than 50 years ago. From above, the buildings’ green roofs blend into the surrounding landscape context. The buildings’ footprints integrate seamlessly into the landscape topography, encouraging a natural flow from interior spaces to the exterior through a series of covered patios and connected path networks, all taking advantage of the surrounding volcanoes. The main campus buildings contain different scales of interior and exterior gathering spaces in response to the diversity of programs and inspired by the campfire gatherings at the original Karisoke Research Center. Encouraging interaction between visitors, staff, and researchers, the gathering spaces are designed to provide connection to the landscape and increase natural ventilation and daylight in the building."

"The campus utilizes locally sourced materials to embody the Fossey Fund’s mission to conserve and limit its impact on the environment, as well as to enable it to blend seamlessly into its natural surroundings. MASS partnered with the global firm Transsolar on environmental engineering solutions throughout the project to prioritize access to natural daylight and ventilation, together with building comfort and performance. Green roof canopies hover above thick volcanic stone exterior walls, separated by a continuous glass clerestory that brings natural daylight into the interior spaces. Regionally sourced pinewood adds warmth and texture to the exterior soffit and interior ceilings of the buildings. The student housing roofs use clay tiles, while native plant species are used on the main campus green roofs to enhance biodiversity and sequester carbon. The green roofs also provide research opportunities to study key ecological processes like pollination and reforestation. "

Additionally, MASS Design worked with Minnesota-based studio TEN x TEN to create a network of green roofs and on-site wastewater treatment capabilities in line with the foundation’s mission to ensure a carbon negative impact on the land, which is now its first permanent home. MASS Design’s Rwanda-based engineering team also reincorporated some volcanic rock excavated from the nearby Virunga Mountains as part of a seismic survey throughout the campus and cladding of the three built structures. In a press statement, Director Theophile Uwayezu also said they gained knowledge as a product of the seven-year-long engagement with the Fund, which shares the similar core values of sustainability and community-oriented practice that have helped it to be named the 2022 AIA Firm of the Year.

“This project is a tribute to the generative partnership we have with the Fossey Fund, and our shared commitment to making an impact not just on our respective organizations, but also in the local community,'' Project Director Emily Goldenberg shared. “In addition to the employment opportunities created while building the campus, profits earned from its operations will be invested back into the community.”