External Shading Design Strategies within the Tropical- Modernist Nigeria: Lessons for Nigerian Designers

The use of external shading devices proves to be the most efficient passive design strategy for direct solar control in buildings, especially in the tropics. Today, the use of exposed glazed façade as found in curtain walls and large window panes in buildings seems to be the norm. This was largely not the case with buildings designed between the ‘50s and the ‘70s in Nigeria of the tropical-modernist period when adequate consideration was given to the effect of the climate on the occupants of a building. This paper looked into the use of external shading devices on buildings in Nigeria during the tropical-modernist era within the afore-mentioned years, by first taking account of the various shading devices and design strategies available and then undertaking a study of selected tropical modernist buildings that employed external shading as a passive design strategy. The study employed case study method and secondary documentation - involving buildings selected in South-west Nigeria. The study presents historical lesson in the aspect of building inside the tropical climate; that is dealing with the solar effects in the tropical Nigeria, and adapting a style to meet our comfort need. Recommendation was then made for the re-introduction of appropriate external shading in buildings by designers. The research hence attempts to revive our adaptive architectural approaches to meeting the thermal comfort need of occupants in a space with respect to external shading.