Housing NOW envisions a new construction process that utilizes an abundant and cheap, small-diameter bamboo species available on the local market, to build low-cost housing in Myanmar. It is a hybrid construction process that includes prefabrication and community-participatory processes. The objective is to provide a new housing solution in a situation of political turmoil.
Since the 1st of February 2021 military coup followed by a nationwide civil war, the country has seen a tremendous increase of Internally Displaced People (IDP); today they amount to 1.8 million people.
(1). Cheaper material sourcing and the design of optimized structural frames.
Using small-diameter bamboo:
Very few bamboo species are used for construction because their natural internal structure allows them to bear a load. There are more than 350 species of bamboo in Myanmar, only 7 of which are used in construction because of their load-bearing capacities. Finding a way to use the abundant and cheapest species of bamboo on the local market would radically lower the cost of construction.
Smaller bamboo has a high bending capacity that allows for more complex designs. Bundling together sets of bamboo subsequently makes the structure more resilient to damage compared to a single large bamboo. The structure’s integrity is no longer subjected to its weakest link, it is a composite material within a monolithic structure.
(2). Modular system / participatory and hybrid construction process.
The design of structural frames as a modular system:
According to the size/condition of the land, the overall budget, the number of people per family; the number of frames used to build a house, and the selection of materials used to build the walls, floor, and roof between the frames, can vary. In this case, the house fulfills the individual needs of each household, and small savings can also be done by providing the specifically needed house size per household instead of a generic size.
The modularity allows for prefabrication where quality control of the whole assembly chain is easily monitored. In case of damage, the frames are easily replaced with new ones without the need to dismantle the entire house.
Participatory and hybrid construction process:
The walls, floor, and roof are built on-site with local workers. The household can give an ‘input’ as to which materials they specifically prefer using (bamboo, wood, corrugated steel plates, …) This participatory process allows for a stronger feeling of ownership of the property and further aligns the house arrangement with the needs of the family.
Our solution serves families in Myanmar who live in precarious housing conditions. The prefabrication allows for simple transportation of the structural frames to any given site in the country by collaborating closely with local truck drivers and logistics companies in case of large-scale construction projects such as community housing projects.
Our design can respond to emergency cases by overproducing frames and storing them; after the order is placed, we can immediately start shipping out the houses. These houses can therefore become a transitional housing solution for families who have escaped from violence due to political events.
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