The Context
In the middle of 2016, when Europe was confronted by the prospect of housing large numbers of asylum-seekers from Syria and surrounding countries, two organisations in the Netherlands decided to hold a competition to seek and promote innovation in housing design for the new migrants. While the first initiative for the move came from the COA (the Dutch organisation responsible for taking care of asylum-seekers), the Government of Netherlands, through its Chief Architect, Floris van Alkemade, decided to broaden the scope of the competition to include not only international migrants, but also to seek innovative solutions for other migrants (like students, young professionals and elderly people) coming to the Dutch cities.
What all migrants generally have in common is that they are seeking affordable accommodation.
The problem is compounded by the fact that the number of migrants is difficult to predict and when the need occurs, large numbers of housing units are required in a very short time. The main requirement for the designs was therefore to come up with innovative, flexible solutions to meet the constantly fluctuating demand from the urban migrants.
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The Competition: A Home Away From Home
The competition launched under the name ‘A Home Away From Home’, organised in 2016, was judged over two rounds by an eminent jury under the chairmanship of Floris van Alkemade.
The interest in taking part in the competition was overwhelming. 366 teams participated in the first round showcasing a wide variety of approaches. The diversity of suggestions was great: from modular housing units, building kits and do-it-yourself building systems to proposals for innovatively using or reusing specific building types such as green-houses, factories or office buildings as well as from social strategies to innovative building technologies.
Out of the multitude of entries, the jury selected six, including mine, called RE- SETTLE. The jury praised RE-SETTLE for its use of radically different and innovative building technology.
The six winning teams were each given an amount of prize-money so that they could create a full-scale (1:1) prototype of their project. These prototypes were shown later in the year at the Dutch Design Week exhibition held in October 2016 in Eindhoven.
Design Idea behind RE-SETTLE
The existing experience with asylum-seekers indicates that a vast majority of them find the lack of privacy to be a major issue in the normal housing allotted to them. That is why the basic idea behind RE-SETTLE is to create a neighbourhood, almost a village-like environment, using a minimum amount of resources in which future inhabitants can feel safe and have the possibility to live independently either as single individuals or with their families.
Innovative Construction Technology
The uniqueness of the design lies in its use of an unconventional material for construction and a creative way of cutting an assembly. The basic material used is Styrofoam (Expanded Polystyrene or EPS) and a unique cutting method has been developed in the last two years at our studio in the Netherlands.
EPS is a material that is produced with minimal use of resources. It consists of only 4% petroleum-based, mono-styrene and constitutes 96% air. As a single material, it is 100% recyclable. EPS is also reasonably cheap, dimensionally stable, non-toxic and fireproof. It is impervious to moisture and mould and has unique properties in terms of insulation.
The design is based on modular elements cut from a single, rectangular block of EPS with the dimensions of 4.8 metres x 2.4 metres x 1.0 metre. Using the unique cutting method developed in our studio, a computer-guided cutting wire, with an adjustable angle, is used to cut a series of rings out of the solid block of EPS. Once cut, the series of rings fit together into one another like a nesting doll or a series of beach buckets. The brilliance of the applied method lies in the cutting technique itself.
Once the exterior face of the bottom (largest) ring is cut, the interior face of the one nesting above it is cut as well. This design/construction reduces the number of cuts by 50%.
Furthermore, an EPS block measuring 4.8 x 2.4 x 1.0 m. (one unit) can be cut into the needed components in just two hours. Finally, Velcro-fastener serves as ‘adhesive’ to join subsequent rings to one another, forming a complete housing unit.
The core of the design is a residential module with an interior structure similar to a hotel room. Each module contains basic utilities such as a shower, a sink and a toilet and is additionally furnished with a wardrobe, a table with chairs and a bed placed on the mezzanine. The modules are placed next to one another in short rows. This means that there are basically two types of units, namely the ones forming the end segments of such rows and those forming the middle segments.
Combining modules with one another enables the creation of three types of housing units: a one-person unit of 15 sq. m., a two-person unit of 20.7 sq. m. and a detached 3-4 person unit of 26.5 sq. m.
Due to the modularity of the solution and the lightweight construction, each type of unit can be relatively easily transformed or extended even after it has been built.
The design and technology also allows the combination of several units to create larger clusters, which can be used for bigger families or groups or for specific communal activities.
The actual process of construction on site starts by placing a layer of water-proofing on the plot and covering it with an EPS floor. Slotted cardboard surface placed on it finishes the flooring, setting up the basis for interior walls. The interior partitions are made of 40 mm. thick cardboard panels designed to snap into one another. Then they are fixed onto the cardboard base. The unit’s exterior walls have been designed as pressure-arches, wherein EPS functions as the compressed material.
The inner side of the exterior wall is lined with a fire-blanket attached to the foam-construction using Velcro-fasteners. The final result is a compact and seamless structure. All the components of a single unit, including both the EPS shell and the cardboard interior, are supplied on the site as a single do-it-yourself package.
When fully assembled, the arch-shaped unit has a size of 2.4 metres x 4.8 metres x 4.5 metres. Nonetheless, the unit is easy to disassemble back into single rings. Once dismantled, the rings fit into one another so that the whole module fits back into a package of 2.4 metres x 4.8 metres x 1.0 metre. As a result, six such packets can fit into one single lorry. Due the lightness of the used material, six persons on the building site can handle one packet, without using any heavy equipment.
Besides, the special features of the material used means that when after many cycles of usage, the final dismantling is necessary, the volume of EPS shrinks upon melting to just 4%, resulting in transporting 59 units in a single lorry!
Conclusion
The uniqueness of the design lies in the combination of fast cutting technology, the nesting-method of component design, easy transportation and low-cost construction method, which optimally use the unique qualities of this unconventional building material. The proposal is perfect for an emergency, offering a short-term housing solution to large numbers of urban migrants. The units provide its users private spaces for all basic activities such as living, eating, bathing and sleeping, while waiting for a long-term permanent solution. The used design and construction technology has a unique quality: dismantling, transport and storing can be done with great ease and efficiency, without the need for heavy construction equipment.
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