This workshop looked to produce design solutions for a Sustainable Prototype House in Bogor, Indonesia with NGO Social Trust Fund Jakarta.

Social Trust Fund Jakarta plan to expand their community learning facility through the construction of a Caretaker’s Home and Living Room which will also function as a classroom and meeting space. This workshop looked to adopt environmental design techniques and water harvesting and filtration systems to become a prototype sustainable home to be rolled out elsewhere across Indonesia.

The challenges

Over 40 million people lack access to an improved water source and more than 110 million of the country’s 240 million population has no access to improved sanitation. The design will call for a self contained mini home for 2 people, centered around an open living space which can also be used for teaching from time to time. A clever use of space which is efficient with materials and energy harvesting methods will be required to ensure that the design will be accessible and affordable to people living in rural Indonesia. This project will look to adopt environmental design techniques, renewable energy strategies and water harvesting and filtration systems to become a prototype sustainable home to be rolled out elsewhere across Indonesia. The design should also look to tackle a number of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the world’s collective call to action to end poverty and restore our planet’s life support systems by 2030.

Over the course of the workshop, participants researched and explored different methods of approaching this difficult issue. With consistent discussions and feedback from end-users and experienced professionals, the participants produced a design proposal for a the prototype home, a system, or a guideline for design that is both ambitious and feasible.

The work produced culminated in a virtual exhibition (accessed below). The next phase of the research will be analysing the body of work and progressing key themes forward into a workable design which will be built a the CERCONDESO Site, in Bogor.

Each participant’s research and proposals have been collated and curated into the gallery below.

Background Research

In rural areas of Indonesia, traditional buildings use natural materials that are widely available, such as wood, bamboo, stone, clay, and straw. In most cities or towns the majority of construction is in brick and reinforced concrete with three main roofing options: corrugated galvanized Iron, clay tiles, or concrete slab. We hope to create a design that combines the benefits of these different material options, with a focus on seismic stability, strength, durability, sustainability, re-use and maintenance. Rapid growth of urban development in Indonesia, especially in large cities, brings significant impacts on the developing areas as well as in their surroundings.

Indonesia is one of the most seismically active countries in the world. In only the last two decades, three major earthquakes hit Indonesia, resulting in more than 500,000 damaged buildings and more than 400,000 casualties. It is important to consider seismic design guidelines in combination with locally available materials. The greater the mass (weight of the building), the greater the internal inertial forces generated. Lightweight construction with less mass is typically an advantage in seismic design.