Habitat Initiative Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

Project Type: architecture

Project Mission/Goal:
1 improve the human spirit
2 increase awareness of the environment and/or address climate change
3 respond to our growing need for clean water, power, shelter, healthcare, education
4 address humanitarian crises

Project Description:

The Aga Khan Foundation Mozambique’s Habitat Initiative seeks to preserve and enhance the local architectural tradition, in which renewable resources like earth and bamboo are used to provide natural temperature and humidity regulation. The project’s goal is to improve upon existing building methods in order to extend building lifespan, thus addressing the challenge of providing rural communities with high-quality habitats.
In the first phase of the project, eleven multipurpose learning centres were built to showcase the new construction methods. To facilitate the implementation and dissemination of these techniques, a total of forty local apprentices were trained in ecological building methods – skills they could later use to support themselves financially. As models of low-cost, high-quality, sustainable construction, the learning centres were designed to inspire others to imitate the new style.
The project’s ongoing second phase seeks to use the same local materials and improved construction methods in the development of a similarly easy-to-replicate residential building style. This phase is focused on encouraging local residents to use these simple, affordable techniques when constructing their own homes.

LOCATION:
Cabo Delgado is the northernmost province of the Southeast African country of Mozambique.
The area has a tropical climate, and the weather is sunny and humid almost every day. Daytime temperatures average about 35°C during the rainy summer months of December to April, and about 25°C in the winter.

SETTLEMENT STRUCTURE:
Local villages are laid out in a pearl-necklace plan - the houses are all in a straight line. The layout permits the construction of wide public roads, and creates more open spaces for air to circulate through. Numerous acacia trees surrounding the villages provide plenty of shade from the hot summer sun.

BUILDING TRADITIONS:
Most houses in the area are earthen huts with large, overhanging straw roofs. The buildings are generally constructed using the „wattle and daub“ technique, in which a wall frame is built out of timber and bamboo, then filled with earth. Sometimes the buildings are built of earth blocks.
Village inhabitants spend most of their time under the large straw overhangs. These shady areas are used as living quarters, social gathering spots and also as space in which to cook, work or sell goods. The huts' interiors are generally only used as sleeping quarters and storage areas.

PROJECT ORIGINS:
The main impetus for this project was the fact that houses in the area have very short lifespans: the buildings generally do not last longer than eight years, and the average life expectancy in the region is 43 years, meaning that the average resident can expect to completely rebuild his or her home a total of five times. Older residents are often no longer capable of doing this themselves, meaning they have to rely on the community for help.
Additionally, most of these buildings are in poor condition for 80% of their lifespans. The straw roofs generally begin leaking after two years, which can rapidly destroy the earthen walls. Another big issue is rising damp, which can damage the foot of the wall. The wood and bamboo are also prone to attacks by termites or other insects, and mice often build their nests in the moist walls or the loose thatch.

IMPROVEMENTS:
The traditional “wattle and daub” technique has been replaced with an earth-block construction method. The new buildings' rammed-earth and earth-block foundations are stabilised with 10% cement and covered with a moisture barrier to protect them from rain and rising damp. The earth blocks used to construct the walls are stabilised through the addition of straw. An easy-to-produce triple-layered bamboo beam has been developed for use in roof constructions; the beam is used for nearly all parts of the roof such as ring beams, purlins and triangle trusses. The prefabricated trusses have a span of 6m, enabling the construction of open-plan multipurpose buildings. The bamboo is treated with borax, a natural salt, in order to prevent damage by termites or other insects. Several different traditional palm-leaf roofing techniques are used to construct the roofs. Because locally-available resources like earth, bamboo and leaves are used as building materials, each school displays the colours of its region.

CONTINUATION OF THE PROJECT:
The apprentices will support the rest of the community by sharing their knowledge and skills, and local residents may even use this new knowledge to found their own construction businesses. Because the project uses construction techniques, which are based upon traditional methods, the villagers are able to learn the new building styles quickly and easily. The construction manuals distributed to each village give step-by-step instructions for the entire building process. The new methods have the potential to meet all local housing needs with durable, long-lasting buildings.

Links and Captions:

http://www.akdn.org/mozambique
http://www.zrs-berlin.de/

Project Details:
Project Location: Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, Africa
Date(s): 06/2008 to 10/2010
Client: Aga Khan Foundation Mozambique
User Client: 11 Communities in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
Major Funding: French Embassy
Concept/Lead Architect(s)/Designer(s): Designer(s): Ziegert | Roswag | Seiler Architekten Ingenieure
Project Architect(s) Designer(s): Ziegert | Roswag | Seiler Architekten Ingenieure
Structural Engineers: Ziegert | Roswag | Seiler Architekten Ingenieure
Photo/Image Credit(s): Paula Holtz, Ziegert | Roswag | Seiler
Nominated by Ziegert | Roswag | Seiler Architekten Ingenieure

Location