The first prototype of a VN construction in Boromo, Burkina Faso, was built as a challenge by Thomas Granier and Séri Youlou in 1998. Next year, a VN house was built, and the Association la Voute Nubienne was founded in 2000 to promote the VN technique as a solution for affordable, sustainable housing in the Sahel.

Séri Youlou and Thomas Granier, co-founders of AVN

The summary below shows the exponential growth and increasing awareness of AVN’s activities since then, both in the Sahel region, and internationally; note that the annual building campaigns are carried out during the winter dry season.

 2000 / 2001 season:

• First campaign - zone of Boromo
• 13 vaults built, 5 VN builders trained

 2001 / 2002 season:

• Second campaign - zone of Boromo
• 13 more vaults built, 8 more builders trained
• partnership established with ACROTERRE, Grenoble

 2002 / 2003 season:

• Third campaign - zone of Boromo
• 15 more vaults built, 11 new builders trained
• Submission by ACROTERRE, and acceptance of, a request for subvention from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the AVN campaigns in 2003, 2004 et 2005.

 20043/ 2004 season :

• Fourth campaign - zone of Boromo
• 32 vaults built, a further 16 builders trained
• Construction of the first VN church, using reinforced concrete beams and pillars internally to support the three vaults
• Web site online
• Construction of a show building at the S.I.A.O. in Ouagadougou

 2004 / 2005 season :

• Fifth campaign - zone of Boromo
• 42 vaults built, 26 new builders trained
• Publication of technical report by Urs Wyss, for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, evaluating the three years of AVN construction from 2003 - 2005.
• AVN featured in two "Cahiers nomades" programmes on RFI (Radio France International)
• Setting up of a monthly subscription facility for financial support for the ’Earth roofs in the Sahel’ programme from individuals and organisations

 2005 / 2006 season :

• Sixth campaign - zone of Boromo
• 70 vaults built, 35 new VN builders trained
• Opening of four new construction zones in Burkina Faso around the towns of Dano, Kumbia, Tchériba, and Kongousi
• Training of the first foreign apprentices (Mali, Togo)
• Construction of the first two-storey buildings
• Construction of the first VN mosque
• First building site started outside Burkina Faso (Mali)
• Re-design of the web site using SPIP (David Sillou)
• Nomination for the Aga Khan Architectural Award
• Participation in the Biennale de l’environnement, Bobigny-Hauts de Seine.
• Participation in the international conference « Living in Hot Deserts», Gardaïa, Algeria
• Winner of the Ashoka-Changemakers Competition on Affordable Housing (prize of $5,000)
• Production of a video « Des toits de terre au Sahel »
• Participation in the Salon International d’Artisanat (SIAO) in Ouagadougou and presentation of a show home.

 2007 / 2008 season :

• Seventh campaign - 5 zones in Burkina Faso
• 140 vaults built, a further 25 builders trained
• Recruitment of a Development Director ( Antoine Horellou)
• Partnership agreement with Africabougou, an Italian NGO (Emilio Caravatti) for the construction of communal buildings using VN + reinforced concrete techniques, in Kati, Mali.
• Partnership agreement with Architects without Frontiers - Spain (Chiara Rigotti) for the construction of two literacy centres in Burkina Faso, using the VN + reinforced concrete techniques.
• Partnership agreement with the Spanish NGO Intervida for construction of buildings in the region of Segou, Mali.
• Construction of the first VN building in Togo.
• Construction of the first VN buildings in Sénégal (Tambacounda) for the Mozdahir Institute, Dakar.
• Evaluation visit by the engineer Mathieu Lefebvre to Burkina Faso (March).
• Preparation of a thesis on the VN concept by three students from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne.
• Partnership agreement with, and financial support from the Véolia Foundation.
• First and second congresses of VN builders in Boromo (in June and October).
• Study attachments to the AVN for students from the School of Architecture in Nantes (Helene Daniel) and the School of Architecture - CRATerre in Grenoble (Gaëlle Bois-Soulier and Laure Cornet).
• AVN honoured as one of five Laureates for the Tech Museum Award / Economic Development category, San José, California (Nov).

• 2008 / 2009 season
  • Start of a partnership program in the Matam region of Sénégal Matam with CC Val de Drôme who are investing over 100 000 € in this project.
  • First awareness raising visits to a selection of communes ([Mairies) in Burkina Faso
  • Participation at the SIAO (Salon International de Ouagadougou) : several thousand visitors from various West African countries showed an interest in the AVN program
  • First Congress of VN masons in Mali, and the 5th Congress of Burkinabé VN masons
  • Launching of a microcredit program with EdM (Entrepreneurs du Monde); meeting with Professor Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize 2006
  • AVN features at an Exhibition and Colloquium on Earth Architecture in Paris and Montréal
  • Recruitment of two volunteers with Solidarité Internationale to work with AVN-BF and t launch AVN-Mali.
  • Sponsorship / socail investment of 90 000 € from the Hermès Foundation
  • New partnerships in Mali (Arquitectos Sin Fronteras, Terre et Humanisme) and Burkina Faso (Entrepreneurs du Monde, CFAO, Arquitectos Sin Fronteras)
  • A lot of media interest : TF1, FranceÔ, RFO, RFI, FranceInter, LeMonde, LaCroix, etc.
  • Launching of a carbon footprint assessment project with the Ecole Polytechnique Féminine de Paris, the NGO Pronatura International, and ERM London

By the end of 2009, we estimate total cumulative results of the program as being:
 200 trained VN masons
 900 vaults built
 9000 direct beneficiaries
 360 000 € of local salaries generated
 an average annual growth rate of 70%.