self-build project in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Within this practical workshop, the implementation of one of the concepts for extension, developed in Wismar, was achieved. In addition to 17 Wismar students of various faculties, a varying number of South African students participated in the cross-national project.
The Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) based in Port Elizabeth has been continuously involved in the project. The NMMU provides scientific support by academic staff and active participation by selected students. Equally cooperative, helpful and impressively unbureaucratic, staff members and students of the local „PE College“ have also committed themselves to the project. The academic concept of the „TVET“ College (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) focuses not only on imparting theoretical and practical skills, but also on the social interaction with township communities, which most of their students call home.
The projects´s objective for Social Change is consistently supported by the management of PE College, appreciating its sustainable approach for being of immense importance. Students from German and South African universities were able to test their concepts for feasibility, but also in dialogue with each other, with local planning partners and craftsmen as well as township beneficiaries involved. The objectives of the project were mediated by discussions and joint activities with students and residents. The implementation of further business units by local teams is intended. Students from Wismar University currently provide support to the local team through design work witin their elective modules. A continuation of project activities based on this partnership is the declared objective.
Images and Plans
Technical Description
- Design
The design of the extensions to the so-called „Mandela“ houses, currently executed in a large number, took place in the context of interdisciplinary project work at the Faculty of Architecture and Design of Wismar University, in close coordination with planning partners on site.Within this programme, individual requirements of a selected township resident have been carefully analyzed and implemented in a customized concept of a module compiling of recycled industrial pallets. The new business unit will provide space for a small recycling company as well as gaming opportunities for children. Unlike originally planned, the construction of the extension was executed before the actual residential house was constructed, causing initial planning adjustments.
- Modification of Design
Due to an inevitable change of the originally envisaged pallet type, modifications of the module´s design had to be carried out by students, prior to the prefabrication process. Based on professional advice by local structural engineer André Malherbe, quantity surveys for building materials were carried out subsequently. Parallel to this process, tools and materials for the prototypes were acquired.
- Prototyping
The production of prototypes, such as columns, walls and furnishing elements, took place in close coordination with the student design team on the property of the students´ accommodation in Port Elizabeth, allowing a collective check of the chosen geometry and selected fittings, followed by minor corrections.
- Foundations
Parallel to the pre-assembly of prototypes, the production of the strip foundations was carried out on site in two working days by a student team. The formwork elements were connected, levelled out on the slightly sloping terrain and subsequently equipped with steel reinforcement according to structural requirements, just in time for the arrival of the ready-mixed concrete. Stripping, filling and disposal of formwork elements were executed the following day.
- Production
For the „mass production“ of building elements, workshops of the local PE College were made available through previous facilitating by Kevin Kimwelle. The team also received valuable technical advice and support from teachers and students of PE College. With the intention to keep the extent of works on site limited, thus reducing the potentially negative influence of local restrictions – scarce electricity, safety aspects as well as weather implications – quick progress could be achieved.
- Transport
For transport of the prefabricated modules to the township´s construction site, a truck was made available to the team as part of the project´s sponsoring programme.
- Assembly
The galvanized “shoe” supports of the prefabricated modules were anchored in the strip foundations by means of boreholes filled with epoxy adhesives. Columns of the „Green Wall“, consisting of gum tree poles, were inserted into the cohesive soil after drilling the required holes by means of an auger. The elements were secured by compaction after alignment. All prefabricated modules were connected by means of bolts (cut-to-length threaded rods) with washers and nuts, as well as screws on site.
- Roof
The binding rafters of the roof („A-Frames“) were produced and assembled by staff and students of PE College in their workshop, subsequently erected and aligned on site with their participation. After inserting the purlins and bracing diagonals, the roof structure was finally covered with corrugated iron sheeting.
- Green Wall and partition with seats
The partition wall adjacent to the business unit, equipped with plants, marks the boundary between public and private space on the owner´s premises. Together with the pallet wall bordering the road, it creates a pleasant waiting area for visitors of the business unit. After a spontaneous collection by children in the township, planters were formed by plastic bottles cut in half, subsequently equipped with succulents adapted to the local climate. The new seating area thus created was “taken over” by local township children even before completion.
- Construction in detail
The selected wall construction is formed by an integrated system, using recycled industrial pallets together with structural timber members for the wall panels. By preventing potential buckling of the slim timber profiles, further bracing could be avoided by the rigid connection of pallets and posts. For the stand-alone vertical supports three standard, slim timber members were bolted together to form “triple-columns”. The resulting fork-shaped supports facilitated the roof assembly by providing a secure temporary support and the necessary allowance for tolerance prior to final tightening of the bolts.
- Completion
The project was presented to the local structural engineer André Malherbe and achieved final approval in all structural matters. The building was then presented and handed over to proud owner „Mama Hilda” Ndaba. Hilda‘s bright smile does not require further explanation..