Size

Sire: 5 hectares
Build: 4,500 sq. m. / 48,437 sq. ft.

Year

In Progress

Client

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

Partners

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, The Ellen Fund

Portrait of Emily Goldenberg
Emily Goldenberg
Design Director
Emily Goldenberg

Emily Goldenberg

Design Director — Kigali

Emily joined MASS in 2016 as a Design Associate based in Boston. She is currently working on a memorial in Montgomery, Alabama and the Redemption Caldwell Hospital in Liberia. Prior to joining MASS, Emily worked as a Designer at Sasaki Associates in Watertown, MA. At Sasaki, Emily was involved in several large scale projects, both domestically and internationally, spanning from recreational sports facilities to library learning environments. Most recently she worked on the new main library for Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico.

Emily received her Master's degree in Architecture at Roger Williams University with semesters abroad in Florence, Italy and Buenos Aires, Argentina. At Roger Williams, Emily was awarded the Master's Thesis award for her work on informal architecture and slum redevelopment for a potters community in Dharavi, Mumbai, India.

Portrait of Patricia Gruits, RA, LEED AP
Patricia Gruits, RA, LEED AP
Senior Principal & Managing Director
Patricia Gruits, RA, LEED AP

Patricia Gruits, RA, LEED AP

Senior Principal & Managing Director — Boston

"I believe that the built environment impacts our lives and we can design the process to create positive social change."

Patricia Gruits is a Senior Principal with MASS Design Group leading both design and research projects in health, education, and equity. Since joining MASS in 2013, she has led the design of the Maternity Waiting Village in Malawi with the Malawi Ministry of Health, the African Leadership University, a series of primary schools in East Africa with the African Wildlife Foundation and the MSquared Foundation, and the development the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

Currently, Patricia leads design and research initiatives at MASS with a focus on planning, design, and evaluation. Her work is aimed at engaging and empowering stakeholders in the design process; supporting and substantiating the impact of design on health, social, and environmental outcomes; and translating research into design strategies and decision-making. She has coordinated the creation of the Purpose Built series— a set of tools for creating impact-driven design— and has implemented this approach in the design of affordable housing, healthcare, and urban design projects around the globe. Patricia has also managed a range of design projects aimed at proving the impact of the built environment on individual and community health in the United States, including a collaboration with the mayor’s working group to address issues of homelessness, addiction and recovery in Boston and partnered with community development corporations to create affordable and supportive housing.

Patricia collaborated with the Joint Center of Housing Studies at Harvard to create guidelines for Safe Interaction in Senior Affordable Housing in response to COVID-19, and has lectured at the Harvard School of Public Health as a part of the USAID sponsored Airborne Infection Control course. She has taught design studios focusing on social impact at the Boston Architectural College and RISD. Her work has been published in journals of architecture and health and was recently awarded the “Top 40 under 40” for Sustainable Design by Impact Design Hub.

Project Team

Adam Saltzman, Theo Uwayezu, Megan Suau, Youssouf Renzaho, Victor Iyakaremye, Alex Dallas, Thandizo Kachiza, Nadia Perlepe, Lysette Niragira, Annie Wang, Bethel Abate

Collaborators

Landscape Architects: TEN x TEN Studio
Sustainability Engineers: Transsolar
Engineering (MEFP/Technical Advisory): BuroHappold Engineers
Civil Engineering (Technical Advisory): Oak Consulting Group (OCG)
Quantity Surveyors: AEGIS Development Solutions
IT / Security: TECHNO Engineering Company
Exhibit Design: Local Projects (concept), MASS Design Group (Schematic through Installation)
Exhibit Fabricators: Formula D
360 Immersive Theater: HabitatXR
Constructed Wetland: Jacques Nsengiyumva, Sherwood Engineers
Kitchen/Cafe: Sheffield

The Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund will provide the Fossey Fund with a purpose built campus to amplify their mission of conservation; protect and study gorillas; train the next generation of African conservationists; and build the conservation capacity of local communities.

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The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has a long history in Rwanda, starting with the founding of the Karisoke Research Center by Dr. Dian Fossey in 1967. Today, the Fossey Fund is the world’s largest and longest-running organization focused entirely on gorilla conservation. They are currently operating out of a rented facility that is 30 kilometers from the national park and which lacks adequate and appropriate space to support their work. Thanks to a generous lead gift from The Ellen Fund, the Fossey Fund was able to advance their vision for a purpose built, permanent headquarters in Rwanda. MASS is partnering with the Fossey Fund in order to design and build the new campus.

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The campus will include a Conservation Gallery that builds upon Dian Fossey’s legacy and serves as a key attraction for tourists from around the globe; an Education Outreach Center to increase opportunities for capacity building for students, staff, and the community; a Research Center that will enhance their cutting-edge research on gorillas and their habitats; and Housing to enable students, staff, and researchers to live on site and build professional and personal relationships. Throughout the campus, there will be interpretive paths for visitors to explore and expand their education of gorilla habitats and reforestation efforts.

For more information about the project, check out The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and The Ellen Fund.

The project also utilizes the services of MASS.Build and MASS.Made.