# Hargeisa Town Hall Common Room Wins AJ Small Projects 2021

> Somaliland Sun reported on 2021-05-03 that Rashid Ali Architects' 30m² common room for Hargeisa Town Hall won the AJ Small Projects 2021 award.

- By: Editorial Team, Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com/about)
- Published: 30 September 2026
- Format: News story (reported from one named public source)
- Publication: Somali Construction Review (https://somaliconstructionreview.com)
- Subject: Engineering and Methods
- Tags: concrete, curing
- Web version: https://somaliconstructionreview.com/blog/hargeisa-town-hall-common-room-aj-award

## Key points

- On 3 May 2021, Somaliland Sun reported that Rashid Ali Architects' 30m² common room for Hargeisa Town Hall was named winner of the AJ Small Projects 2021 award.
- Rashid Ali said the practice was commissioned by the local authority to design Hargeisa's first purpose-built town hall, and that the awarded common room provides shade for staff and visitors.
- The report does not establish when the common room was completed, whether it remains in use, or whether the AJ Small Projects organisers or Marley confirmed the award.

On 3 May 2021, Somaliland Sun reported that Rashid Ali Architects' 30m² common room for the Town Hall in Hargeisa had been named winner of the AJ Small Projects 2021 award. The 30m² figure comes from the Somaliland Sun report. The recognition, the report said, was for the design of the Common Room for Hargeisa Town Hall, created in Somaliland during the pandemic, a claim in the report.

The award is for the common room, not for the wider town hall project. Somaliland Sun reported that AJ Small Projects is run in association with Marley.

## What Rashid Ali said about the project

Rashid Ali said he formed his practice in 2011 and had previously worked at Adjaye Associates and Karakusevic Carson. He said Rashid Ali Architects was commissioned by the local authority to design the first purpose-built town hall for Hargeisa, and that while developing the project the architects were asked to design shade for the land registry office, which was overcrowded with visitors. The awarded project, he said, is a common room providing a shaded space for staff and visitors.

On delivery, Ali said the budget given was barely enough to cover materials, and that the architects acted as builder because they could not find a local contractor or builder to build to the specific details and aesthetic. He said the core construction team was formed of some colleagues at the office, a local carpenter and their students. He described the structure as designed in timber, expressed and celebrated aesthetically, and said timber is not familiar locally except as a roofing structure.

Ali also said the client told the architects to do whatever they wanted within the budget, and that he did not recall presenting the design because the brief was simple. He said the practice set up a satellite office in Somaliland with the initial aim of starting conversations about the role and importance of design.

## What the report does not establish

The Somaliland Sun report does not state when the common room was completed, whether it remains in use, or whether the award has been confirmed by the AJ Small Projects organisers or Marley. It gives no contract, procurement record, budget figure, currency or funder for the town hall commission, and names no contractor or company. The local carpenter and the students are unnamed. No quantities, supplier or cost details are given for the timber structure.

The report also records Ali saying that Rashid Ali Architects is working on a community centre in Leicester and two residential projects in London, and that a Children's Hospital and a public square are about to begin on site in Hargeisa. It does not establish that construction on either has started, nor does it provide any update on those projects since 2021.

## Questions

### What is the AJ Small Projects 2021 award?

Somaliland Sun reported that AJ Small Projects is run in association with Marley, and that the 2021 award went to Rashid Ali Architects' 30m² common room for the Town Hall in Hargeisa.

### Who designed the Hargeisa Town Hall common room?

Somaliland Sun reported that Rashid Ali Architects designed the 30m² common room. Rashid Ali said his practice was commissioned by the local authority to design Hargeisa's first purpose-built town hall, and that the common room provides a shaded space for staff and visitors.

### What does the report say about how the common room was built?

Rashid Ali said the budget given was barely enough to cover materials, that the architects acted as builder because they could not find a local contractor or builder to build to the specific details and aesthetic, and that the core construction team was formed of colleagues at the office, a local carpenter and their students. He said the structure was designed in timber.

## Sources

- [Somaliland: Hargeisa Town Hall Project Wins Architect Rashid Ali the AJ Small Projects Award 2021](https://somalilandsun.com/somaliland-hargeisa-town-hall-project-wins-architect-rashid-ali-the-aj-small-projects-award-2021/) — Somaliland Sun, 2021-05-03