Stronghouse
Can a kit-of-parts system provide critical infrastructure for healthy communities?
Camarines Sur Province, Philippines
Under Construction
In partnership with Stronghouse Foundation—the first crowd sourced housing charity in Southeast Asia—CAZA developed single-family and multi-family prototypes to provide affordable houses to families in the rural communities of the Philippines. The design offers a highly economical and customizable kit-of-parts that can be easily modified for families of varying needs. The single-family prototype is being implemented in Camarines Sur province before rolled out across the Philippines. The multifamily prototype design can be used flexibly as sleeping quarters or combined into larger public facilities.
The design specifically addresses two of the most pressing challenges facing rural communities in the Philippines: the lack of functioning ventilation and sewage systems. Each year, a large number of fatalities in this region are due to cooking fume inhalation and illness from poor sanitation. Both prototypes include the equipment required for water and ventilation systems and the mechanisms for integrating water-lines across units to build community-wide sewage infrastructure.
CAZA studied the relationship of the site to the surrounding infrastructure and available public resources, determining what needs could best be served at the level of the community and designing prototypes that addressed them.
The single-family version is currently being deployed in Camarines Sur Province. The simple concrete structural system with metal roofing allows the prototype to be built quickly and with local labor.
The multi-family version can be flexibly partitioned and combined into larger public facilities. More than just providing basic living environments, this allows the prototypes to be combined into communities with shared water infrastructure, public space, and recreation areas.
- SIZE: 629.15 SQF
- PROJECT TEAM: Carlos Arnaiz, Alden Ching, Gaby San Roman