Eastgate Centre

Landmark building whose ventilation system mimics termite mounds — no air conditioning needed

The Eastgate Centre on Robert Mugabe Road is a shopping centre and office block whose design made architectural history. Completed in 1996 and designed by Zimbabwean architect Mick Pearce in association with Arup, the building regulates its temperature through a passive ventilation system modelled on the self-cooling mounds built by African termites.

Cool air enters through vents at the base, is warmed by the building's activities during the day, and rises to escape through chimneys at the top — the same basic principle used by termites in their colonies. The result is a building that maintains comfortable temperatures through Harare's hot seasons without the energy cost of conventional air conditioning. Worth a look even if architecture isn't usually your thing.

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A story
Architect Mick Pearce designed Eastgate by studying how termite mounds regulate temperature through a system of vents and chimneys. The building stays at a comfortable temperature year-round without conventional air conditioning — saving an estimated ten times the energy of a comparable conventional structure. It became a landmark in biomimicry architecture and is studied in design schools worldwide.