In 2023, the Rotary Club of Savusavu in partnership with the mataqali (Fijian Clan) Urata, whose land it is on, opened a lookout cafe above Urata Village. This project was all about economic empowerment of a rural community: up-skilling the local community, giving them a stake in tourism, environmental rehabilitation, establishing a highly attractive tourist stop on the Labasa - Savusavu 90km road.
The cafe commands an iconic lookout site overlooking Savusavu Bay which had, over the years, become ghastly dumping ground for rubbish. Two and a half years ago the Rotary Club applied for and won a grant from the US Embassy in Suva to build this; who shared the club's vision across all those parameters. RC Savusavu subsequently raised further funds from friends and supporters and final opened the complete cafe in March 2023. The unique building design is now being considered for an award by Dorn Bracht, a German company that manufactures quality fittings and accessories for the bathroom and kitchen.The design and construction of the building was done by CAUKIN studio, an environmentally focused architecture studio working across the globe. It was founded in 2015 by a group of friends from Canada, the UK and Indonesia who were studying architecture together at university, and a casual student project has turned into a thriving studio that has worked on more than 50 design and construction projects worldwide, spending a combined total of more than 190,000 hours educating on site across 5 continents.
The project construction took place over the course of 8 weeks, with a team of 25 international participants from architecture and engineering schools / practices, working alongside over 30 local community members. Many of the construction details were developed concurrently with the project construction, with all participants living within Urata Village and gaining experience and knowledge through cultural immersion.
You can look at some stunning photos here: https://www.caukinstudio.com/urata-look-out-cafe-fiji