Xewa Sowé in Benin is a finalist for ArchDaily's Building of the year 2025

Xewa Sowé in Benin is a finalist for ArchDaily's Building of the year 2025.

This Center for Orphans is a project designed by Arianna Frabrizi De Biani, Doryan Kuschner, Corentin Dalon and Florian Mahieu. 

Located in the rural village of Sowé in Benin, children's center includes emergency accommodation for 24 children, a food center to ensure self-sufficiency for 30 children, a large vegetable garden, a field of artemisia (an anti-malaria plant), a farm, a kitchen, and a refectory; a public center, accessible to the villagers so that the children are in touch with the community, includes a library, a study room and an office for the administrator. The project is based in Sowé, a rural village in central Benin. 

The site is on the outskirts of the village; just a few minutes walk from the main square. The plot is crossed diagonally by a side road leading to the fields. The village lies to the southwest of the center. To the east, a laterite road links the site to a motorbike route, which connects the village's educational institutions with the main town 10km away.