Study Center, Office & Orphanage

Tacloban City, Philippines

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Study Center, Office & Orphanage

Tacloban City, Philippines

Firm

erikssonfurunes

Type

Educational › Other

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2016

SIZE

1000 sqft - 3000 sqft

BUDGET

$50K - 100K

November 2013, super-typhoon Haiyan destroyed the study center, built in collaboration among an NGO called Streetlight, the Seawall community and three architect students in 2010. A typhoon so strong, that the entire informal settlement of Seawall was flattened. Nevertheless, the community ties, confidence and pride built in the making of the study center could not be broken by the typhoon, instead it formed a strong platform for the families to come together and build back their lives. As the local government announced that the informal settlements along the coastline should be relocated, Streetlight decided to follow. Alexander Eriksson Furunes, one of the architect students that built the previous study center, now a recent graduate, was invited back to lead the reconstruction of the study center, orphanage and office for Streetlight, together with his two partners Sudarshan Khadka and Jago Boase. The study center received the A+ popular choice award in the category ‘Architecture + Collaboration’ just months before the disaster. Initially, the community wanted to build back the old study center, which had become a symbol of their efforts and aspirations. However, through workshops using drawings, model making and physical prototyping, concepts of ‘open and light or ‘closed and safe’ were identified as essential elements to respond to the trauma and experience of the typhoon. This informed the use of concrete volumes for refuge, and ventilated light timber structures that would allow strong winds to pass through. This was in fact a technique developed by the families in the informal settlements to cope with the disaster-prone climate. Under the supervision of the contractor (All Hands), members of the community received TESDA training courses to become certified carpenters and masons during the construction. The buildings were completed November 2016 and are now in full use by the community and Streetlight.