Erg Solar Campus
A solar research campus of earth, shade and wind.
Drâa-Tafilalet, Morocco · 2021–2027
A research campus for solar energy in a stony desert valley south of the High Atlas, now on site. Its buildings are made of the ground they stand on and shaded by the technology they study.
Earth from the site
The walls are rammed earth from the excavations, laid in bands of the valley’s own ochres. Half a metre thick, they absorb the day’s heat and give it back at night, and each laboratory’s lower floor is set six metres into the ground on its north side. The first laboratory wing topped out in September 2026.
A roof of shade
A 14,000-square-metre canopy of photovoltaic panels on slender columns shades the streets and courtyards and powers the campus. Wind towers draw air down through evaporative screens; at night, the roofs radiate heat to the clear desert sky.
The desert has been cooling buildings for a thousand years. We added panels and sensors.
Designed for dust
Dust is the enemy of every solar panel and every filter. The canopy tilts for cleaning robots, intakes sit on the lee side of the prevailing wind, and the laboratories have their own sealed air.
Visualisations: Instinctual Group.
