pentecost , vanuatu
TANBOK school
Project Build Length: 8 Weeks
Project Leaders: Harrison Marshall, Alden Ching
International Participants: Jordan Smith, Lourenço Branco, Peter Staniforth, Matthew Caen, Rebecca Neuman, Rabiyah Malik, Ainie Shafeeu, Miles Agnew, Kerry Husselbee, Dominic Sparks, Sam Brankin, Zeph Phillips, Callum McCarthy, Katharina Polanyi, Lucy Guitton, Elaine Tan, Angelica Scorgie, Richard Mellor, Georgia Burgin, Thomas Hall, Michaela Harte, Maolin Huang, Ahsan Khan, Shota Noonan, Paul Weedle.
Project Partners: The Tanbok Project
Photographs: Sam Brankin, Lourenco Branco
Our Services: Community consultation, Brief development, Full design, Construction, Project management, Educational Workshop Delivery.
Sustainable Development Targets Met:
CAUKIN Studio worked alongside the Tanbok School community and international participants from around the world, to build a school classroom and library in Vanuatu. An increasing number of Category 5 cyclones, including Cyclone Pam and Cyclone Harold have caused destruction and damage to previous school buildings, leading to an urgent need for cyclone resistant reconstruction. After an 8 week collaborative build process, the final outcome combines a heavy-duty cyclone resistant timber frame, local hardwood cladding, polycarbonate and metal roofing sheets to create a strong, bright and well ventilated learning environment. The library space tackles the extreme humidity through carefully considered passive design strategies, enabling the lifespan of the books to be prolonged.
In 2015 the worst natural disaster to hit Vanuatu, Cyclone Pam, left much of the country in devastation. Tanbok School and its contents were destroyed leaving the children to be taught in unsuitable temporary shelters. The Tanbok Project, an NGO established in the wake of the natural disaster, identified not only the need for new classrooms but also a library space that could withstand the harsh local climate. In more recent years, the village has faced further natural disasters, making reconstruction efforts all the more difficult.
A hammock net stretches over the library space creating a second level for the children to read and relax away from the main learning areas.
Large windows running either side of the classroom bring in natural daylight as well as cross ventilation, a stark contrast to the other dark and humid school buildings.
The project construction team was made up of local carpenters and international architecture and engineering students. Much of the detailing happened concurrently with the project construction, with all participants living within Tanbok Village and gaining experience and knowledge through cultural immersion.
Due to the location of Tanbok within the mountainous island, it is subjected to very wet conditions and high humidity throughout most of the year. In order to extend the life of the books and learning materials, it was crucial that the design applied passive strategies to reduce the relative humidity. The library books are stored in an enclosed space that uses dark metal roofing sheets to increase the air temperature inside the space. The increased heat allows the air to hold more moisture, reducing the relative humidity, and creating a stack ventilation system that repeatedly dries the books. The shelving design creates regular spacers between books ensuring that air can pass over a larger surface area of the books, wicking moisture away in the process.
We would like to say a huge thank you to all those that contributed to this project by way of donation, supply of materials or just a helping hand! A special mention to our engineering partners Eckersley O'Callaghan.
