This Uncommon Innovation Hub was built by the friends and family of Vincent Bohlen. It is a space for ideas to flourish, where hope and optimism reign supreme. Where no dream is too big, and no idea too small.
When our students enter this space, we ask them to do so with the courage to dare to be different, the confidence to usher change, and the love for the shared humanity that unites us all. Because that’s how Vincent lived his life.
Vincent, we will love and remember you always. Here in Victoria Falls, you have a home.
With special thanks to the Chamabondo Primary School, the Australian Embassy of Zimbabwe, Oak Foundation, the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, the Jürgen & Anke Friedrich Foundation, Maria & Matthias Ederer in honor of Robert Osterrieth, Sissi Bohlen, and Vincent’s countless friends and family from around the world.
The Vincent Bohlen Innovation Hub was our 8th Hub and marked the expansion of our programs into a third city in Zimbabwe, Victoria Falls. Special thank you to our pro-bono architect, Julius Taminiau and his team for helping us once again with design a space that is truly uncommon.
To build the Hub, we took two old 40ft shipping containers and spaced them out on top of a concrete foundation to create an open floor plan. Long windows bring in natural light from both sides, and accordion doors span the gap between the containers. As with all of our spaces, we refrained from using burglar bars or reflective glass, and instead created a beautiful space for all to see, and hopefully visit!
The entire space is running off of solar energy and we have two air conditioning units to cool the hub during those hot summer days in Victoria Falls.
The Vincent Bohlen Innovation Hub was officially commissioned on September 28th, 2024 with guests joining from all over the world.
The Vincent Bohlen Innovation Hub is open Monday - Friday from 9am - 5pm and is open to all visitors. As this is a working space in a school environment, we kindly ask that visitors abide by all rules of our partner school, Chamabondo Primary School, when on campus.
When possible, please book your visits in advance by emailing hello@uncommon.org with the subject line “Visiting Uncommon in Victoria Falls” and someone from our team will get in touch as soon as possible to coordinate your trip. If you would like to be a guest speaker or conduct a workshop or lesson, please schedule this in advance.
For tourists, we ask that you kindly consider making a donation or bringing an old computer with you on your trip to the Falls! Computers are one of our largest annual expenses and we are grateful to the 100s of people from around the world who have supported our students in this meaninful way.
While our after school programs are entirely free for our partner government schools, we offer paid courses to private & charter schools to help subsidize the costs of our free program. Please get in touch if you’d like to bring coding to your school.
