). Passive cooling and Indigenous Identity: Towards a Climate-Responsive Recreational Centre for Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of global energy consumption, with mechanical cooling among the fastest-growing contributors across sub-Saharan Africa's rapidly urbanising cities. In Nigeria's Guinea savanna zone, public recreational facilities remain insufficient and heavily reliant on-air conditioning despite passive design strategies embedded in indigenous architecture. This paper proposes a climate-responsive recreational centre at the Adeta Baseball Court, Ilorin, Kwara State, achieving year-round thermal comfort through passive design. A mixed-method approach combined quantitative psychrometric analysis of ten-year NIMET data (2016–2026) processed through Climate Consultant 6.0 with qualitative review of Ilorin's Yoruba-Islamic built heritage and six case studies in comparable tropical climates. Findings identify six indigenous passive strategies — courtyard compound organisation, laterite thermal mass walls, deep eave overhangs, ode-ile transitional veranda, Islamic geometric brise-soleil screens, and indigenous canopy tree planting — collectively addressing Ilorin's dual-season thermal challenge without mechanical cooling dependency. The study recommends broader passive-first design adoption for public buildings across Nigeria's Guinea savanna zone.