Local Firm Works in Africa

As an architect for 40 years and CEO of his own firm for nearly 35, Wayne Schmidt has designed all manner of projects and handled an array of challenges. 

And then there is his latest project: designing a compact, solar-powered, sustainable university in the middle of an African rainforest.

“We’ve had big challenges, but not like this,” Schmidt said. “And this one is unique because we’re starting with no infrastructure.

“But it’s also an opportunity. See, it just looks like a problem. The opportunity is how do you do this right? And how do you it without creating waste and when it’s finished it looks like it just grew there? That to me is the opportunity at hand.”

Schmidt Associates, a member of the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce since 1977, is conducting the master planning and design of African University, a private institution to be located in Tali, Cameroon, a west-central African nation. Schmidt Associates, a 100-employee architectural-engineering firm started by Schmidt in 1976, has considerable experience designing university buildings, including the new medical school at Marian University. 

But it was Wayne Schmidt’s relationship with William Agbor-Baiyee that sealed the deal. The university is Agbor-Baiyee’s brainchild, a dream formed when he was a graduate student at Indiana University and on the verge of becoming a reality in 2014. 

The men are both members of the Rotary Club of Indianapolis and of the same book club. What’s more, said Agbor-Baiyee, director of the Master of Science in Medical Science Program at Indiana University School of Medicine, when people “have harmonies in philosophy, harmonies in direction, harmonies in a lot of different things, the rest is history.”

They connected about a year ago, almost 20 years into Agbor-Baiyee’s planning. In the interim years, the not-for-profit African University Foundation was established (Agbor-Baiyee is board chairman); the Tali Traditional Council, the local government, deeded a 6.5-square-mile site for the university; foundation leaders were installed in the United States and Cameroon; and a feasibility study was conducted. 

So by last December, Schmidt said, the next logical step was for his team to visit the site. Schmidt, Sarah Hempstead, who runs Schmidt Associates’ university studio; Corrie Meyer, an urban planner; and Martin Sams, an architectural graduate, made the 11,500-mile trip. They were joined by Agbor-Baiyee, Indianapolis attorney David Williams Russell, the foundation’s vice chairman, and Cathy Davis, the foundation’s treasurer and staff accountant at the Central Indiana Community Foundation.

Reaching the remote site in southwest Cameroon required traveling on a rutted dirt road and hiking through dense underbrush, cleared by 20 machete-wielding men who volunteered, Schmidt said, “because they are so excited about this. They see this as something that could help grow their town, improve the roadway system, improve their infrastructure. It’s bigger than just creating a university; it’s creating an entire environment.

“Part of what they want to teach here is agriculture. It’s almost reminiscent of the early days of Purdue as a land-grant college.” Schmidt said. “The parallel is uncanny, just 100 years apart.”

The firm’s challenge is to bring civilization to the rainforest without destroying it. An elephant trail, for example, will be respected; structures will be built around it and around gigantic trees that dot the land. Designers also must be mindful of drainage since flooding occurs. 

The site is relatively flat, but software manipulated by Sams “removes” trees, allowing designers to plot and accommodate the undulating terrain. 

“In an environment like this, you’re going to have to clean some trees out but you’ve just got to be careful where you locate the buildings,” Schmidt said. “That’s why we went, to get a better idea of what kind of open space we can get without destroying the canopy.”

Heating, cooling and insulation are not required; power will come primarily from the sun, with backup generators. During Phase I, classrooms and residence halls for students, faculty and guests will be built.

In addition to agriculture, Phase I is expected to include programs in architecture, law, nursing and civil, computer and mechanical engineering, Agbor-Baiyee said. 

The foundation will be seeking $5 million to start Phase I. Agbor-Baiyee is hopeful that prospective donors will appreciate “the story of human beings coming together from across the world to see a better future for a new generation of servant leaders, who will be carefully selected to help this journey we all make as human beings to try to make this world a better place.”