Climate, pandemic and energy have often shaped and characterised the transformations of our
built environment. Today, under the current pandemic conditions, we are witnessing the ability (or not) of
the built environment in responding to such emergency through changes and adaptation. Among many
approaches to such changes and emergencies, we are presenting the idea of relying on passive design as a
medium to manage and prevent pandemic events. In particular, this paper will focus on the tight relation
between natural ventilation and architectural design as a sustainable response to Covid-19. To do so, the
work focus on the design of a Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) Treatment Centre in Dori, Burkina
Faso, in collaboration with an International humanitarian Institution. This experience shows the ability of
passive design and natural ventilation to deliver a sustainable and resilient health facility able to engage the
local community and optimise resources in a context of scarcity. The importance of this work is to inform
design guidelines for further health facilities in the same climatic area, as well as to set the example of
passive design support the prevention of the spread of air borne diseases
