When we talk about the greenhouse effect, we’re usually referring to the way greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere. But in many cities around the world, we’ve also become surprisingly good at building actual greenhouses, or at least office blocks that behave like them.
Glass façades, floor-to-ceiling windows and concrete buildings have become symbols of modernity and global business. Yet in warm climates, these structures often absorb and trap heat, creating spaces that require almost constant air conditioning to remain comfortable. As temperatures rise and heatwaves become more frequent, this approach seems increasingly at odds with the realities of a warming world.
Cooling by Design
As climate change accelerates, adaptation is not only about flood defences and drought-resistant crops. It is also about rethinking the spaces where we live and work. Many modern commercial buildings are designed according to global architectural trends rather than local climatic conditions. The result is often buildings that depend heavily on mechanical cooling, increasing energy use,
operating costs and, in many contexts, carbon emissions. Perhaps architects should be designing structures that stay cool in the first place, to avoid having to cool buildings with energy.
A Lesson from West Africa
Few people have championed this idea more effectively than Francis Kéré, the Burkina Faso-born architect who became the first African architect to receive the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize. Rather than fighting against the climate, Kéré’s designs work with it. His buildings often incorporate locally sourced materials such as earth and clay, thick walls that help regulate temperature, shaded spaces such as courtyards, and roof structures that encourage natural airflow. The result is architecture that responds to local environmental conditions rather than relying on energy-intensive cooling systems.
A School that Copes with the Climate
One of Kéré’s best-known projects, the Gando Primary School in Burkina Faso, demonstrates these principles in action. Designed for a tropical region where temperatures can be extremely high, the school uses passive cooling techniques to keep classrooms comfortable throughout the day.
An elevated roof allows hot air to escape, while natural ventilation draws cooler air through the building. Combined with locally sourced materials that absorb and release heat more gradually than concrete, the design creates a learning environment that stays significantly cooler than many conventional buildings, without the need for air conditioning.
Rethinking Modern Architecture
Rethinking modern architecture requires recognising that the buildings we celebrate as sleek and progressive often ignore the very environments they are located in. As the world warms, design can no longer be a neutral aesthetic choice, rather, it becomes a form of climate adaptation. Architects like Francis Kéré show that comfort, beauty and sustainability are not competing priorities but interconnected ones. By embracing local materials, passive cooling and climate?responsive forms, we can create buildings that are not only functional as they regulate temperature, but also less environmentally damaging. The challenge now is to let these principles reshape global design culture, so that the structures we build today are livable, resilient and responsible.