Grassroots Eco-Build is our up and coming environmental construction firm in Lilongwe, Malawi. We have several building projects that are all designed very efficiently with the use of local materials. At present all of our builds use earth as the main construction material. Each project trains people so the knowledge is passed on and spread around Malawi. There are many different technologies and ways to use earth depending of the criteria of design.
I have been blessed to have met this family in the first few
months of my stay in Malawi. I heard of Stacia and Kristof Nordin through word of
mouth to start and immediately knew I had to go and visit them. People explained they were running NeverEndingFood, a permaculture center that uses community participation in everything to share and spread the knowledge to benefit as many people as possible. http://www.neverendingfood.org/
Their home is a sustainable
gem in the middle of the struggling rural communities. The only difference between
their home and any other rural home is design. They have used their compound brick wall
for several structures inside to maximize efficiency. There is a water system
of ponds that feed a huge variety of plants. The human manure from the compost
toilet is used as fertilizer for the plants.
The problem of people being hungry in Malawi is crazy with so many
natural elements here. It is all education, people need to learn and see the
goodness of soils when managed well: good practice water management will give a variety of nutrition for the
whole family.
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| water system |
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| compost system |
The Permaculture Discovery Center will be a place where groups come and learn about permaculture and the ways to improve their local methodologies and therefore increase their nutrition levels.
Our design brief from the Nordin’s is designing and constructing
efficiently using alternative natural building technologies compared to the
popular burned brick. This building method and Malawi’s growing population has
severe effects of deforestation which needs to be solved through education. Our
company design is looking at ways to have more local materials and therefore
appropriate costs to inspire people in the surrounding villages to uptake this
methodology. As one of the main permaculture training homes in Lilongwe
specifically working with communities we were excited to take up the project.
Before any design work we gathered information on site and found all the natural materials available.
Local plants and materials grown and used in construction from the site:
- Giant bamboo
- Sansevieria trifascia plant: also known as English woman’s tongue
- Recycled glass and plastic bottles
- All earth dug from site
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| Sansevieria trifascia plant |
Grassroots Eco-Build will be using 3 different technologies
to build the Permaculture Discovery Center: abobe bags, rammed earth and
compressed adobe blocks. With a variation of ways to build people can have
several options to decide which method is most preferred so they can imitate the methodology to then build other structures in the surrounding villages.
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| Permaculture Discovery Center Plan |
The 9m x 11m build includes a storage room, classroom space
and raised seating for the amphi-theatre space. On the back wall the north
light will shimmer through the glass bottle walls while the westerly winds cools
and blows through the central space for natural ventilation. The classroom
walls have full height regular openings and are angled to see the outside while
sitting inside. The roof overhang prevents heat and direct light from coming
into the space. For the roof structure for some will use the sansevieria trifascia
plant to weave a ceiling, below bamboo rafters and roofing, with a cement
plaster for waterproofing.
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The classroom has an earth dome ceiling with a central light-well above. The steel structure uses plastic bottle tiles as an alternative, cost efficient and waste reduced option for the light-well. There will be an opening below the light-well so all exhausted air leaves the building.
The Grassroots Eco-Build construction team will be training 2 NeverEndingFood interns who can spread the technology across the villages. The Permaculture Discovery Center should be a great example and an icon throughout the villages in Chitedze, Lilongwe. The build will be a stylish earth building which will show the incredible variation of earth technology. The local material available and the benefits of this material work hand in hand for more information please read: http://www.rammedearthconstructions.com.au/rammed-earth-info/
Welcome to the future of earth construction for Malawi.
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