The #GC2022 finalists are out! Read more.

search
×
menu
login
donate
MOVING school 001
Mae Sot, Thailand
Written by:
follow
share on:mail linkcopy link to clipboardShare via LinkedInShare via TwitterShare via FacebookShare via Facebook
A mobile, relocatable school building for Burmese migrant and re

image: public domain
i
Category:
education
Phase:
in use
Design:
Amadeo Bennetta and Dan LaRossa
Updated:
4 November 2014
introduction

In 2011, Building Trust International launched an International design competition asking Architects, Designers and Engineers to come up with an innovative design solution for a mobile, modular school for a displaced community of migrants and refugees on the Thai/Burma border. The winning design from American architects Dan La Rossa and Amadeo Bendetta was constructed in collaboration with Iron Wood, a social enterprise in Mae Sot made up of young migrants who have trained as apprentices and pass on their skills to others. In doing so the school became a learning tool in its own right giving skills sharing sesions on metal work for the steel frame construction and carpentry skills needed to create the bamboo wall panels. The design maximises the use of traditional bamboo building techniques for the walls and solar blinds. The school has the capability to be constructed and dismantled time and time again due to the steel frame structure which has simple repeated bolted connection details. The foundations were designed to be concrete free by filling reclaimed tyres with compacted gravel to hold the foundation footings in place.

The Building Trust team worked alongside local craftsmen, international volunteers, the local community, school children, parents, the school teachers and the headmistress to complete the school construction over 3 months. The school was completed in October 2012 with classes starting shortly after.

classroom at dawn

image: public domain
i
cultural and social context

The cultural and social context of the project is more complicated than with most projects for when thinking about each of these areas one has to consider both local and migrant cultures both of which share similarities but also marked differences. The most important issue is identity and the need for Migrant communities to keep their own identity while also meeting requirements of the hosting communities. With any migrant/ refugee situation this is an incredibly sensitive area and for designers and architects adds to the complexity of consultation and contextualisation of designs.

materials and building techniques

Although many think that building in remote parts of the world leads to scarcity of materials and it is true that you may not be able to get the wide range of products and specifications that you can in a developed city you can get most materials and what you can’t buy off the shelve is relatively easy to manufacture. Timber is one resource that is not abundant and with strict logging laws in Thailand the cost of timber is high and the quality non protected species like eucalyptus is not so good. Reclaimed Teak can be sourced but has increased the practice of low income families selling their homes to be dismantled. The cost of such material is comparable with steel and is often higher for longer sections.

The roof was a challenge for us, we were keen to stick with the design that made use of a tensile fabric. The reasons were two fold longevity and noise reduction. Other schools in the region that have tin/zinc roofs last approx. 3-4 Years and make teaching almost impossible in the heavy rains which are common for 4 months of the year. We used a fastening techniques used in the advertising hording industry which to our knowledge has not been used in architecture for a roofing material. One year on and it is still holding well. The fastening technique also allows for the roof to be taken down, re-stretched and fastened again at any new location.

read more >
< read less
image gallery
fisheye panorama

image: public domain
i
...in class

image: public domain
i
the clients

image: public domain
i
community effort

image: public domain
i
first frame up!

image: public domain
i
frames going up

image: public domain
i
supporting traditional techniques and local community

image: public domain
i
bamboo movable partitions to add...

image: public domain
i
apprentices

image: public domain
i
Corridors

image: public domain
i
Classes in open plan

image: public domain
i
shoes off!

image: public domain
i
technical drawings
design sketch

image: © all rights reserved
i
design sketch II

image: © all rights reserved
i
design render

image: © all rights reserved
i
design render II

image: © all rights reserved
i
Location
show earth plate boundarieshide earth plate boundaries
Explore more inspirations
Keyword:
bamboo (68)
community practice (113)
informal settlement (69)
low budget (66)
reuse building (23)
prev
  •  infrastructure
    Community Bamboo Footbridge
    Davao City, Philippines
  •  housing
    CASA RANA
    Tamil Nadu, India
  •  education
    Bamboo Panyaden School
    Chiang Mai, Thailand
  •  meeting place
    Farmers' Innovation Center (BLF)
    Angangba (Nagaland), India
  •  housing
    Open Source House Pilot
    Cape Coast, Ghana
  •  meeting place
    SBNAI Davao Social Space & Landscape Project
    Davao City, Philippines
  •  education
    SAL Exhibition Pavilion/Learning by Making
    Ahmedabad, India
  •  education
    Wadi Abu Hindi Primary School
    Wadi Abu Hindi Bedouin camp, Palestinian Territories
  •  meeting place
    BE friendly space
    Mao Khe, Vietnam
  •  education
    La Salle University
    Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico
  • finalist 2016
     education
    ModSkool
    New Delhi, India
  •  education
    Tipu Sultan Merkez
    Jar Maulwi, Pakistan
  • play
     education
    Community Center for Indigenous music/ environment
    Tuba, Philippines
  •  agriculture & fisheries
    Community Greenhouse
    Quito, Ecuador
  •  religion & memorial
    Ise Grand Shrine
    Ise, Mie prefecture, Japan
  •  housing
    PHOOLNA - teachers accomodation
    Sunderpur, Raxaul, India
  •  meeting place
    BES Pavilion
    Ha Tinh city, Vietnam
  •  recreation & sport
    Rural Sports Center
    San Pedro Apóstol, Oaxaca, Mexico
  •  education
    Senior Citizen’s Library
    Bhatpore Village Surat, India
  •  meeting place
    El Tr3bol de Ciudad de Cali
    Bogotá, Colombia
  •  education
    LA VIEJA
    Montebello, Cali, Colombia
  •  housing
    Black Bamboo Community Center
    Yogyakarta, Indonesia
  •  housing
    Net-Zero Self-sufficient Home
    Bafoussam, Cameroon
  •  work & business
    Bamboo factory Bali
    Bali, Indonesia
  • play
    GC2021 finalist
     education
    Taller Tropical Moravia 2.0
    Medellín, Colombia
  •  meeting place
    wNw Bar
    thu dau mot, Vietnam
  •  religion & memorial
    Bamboo chapels
    Jama, Ecuador
  •  emergency shelter
    Temporary Dormitories for Mae Tao Clinic
    Mae Sot, Thailand
  •  housing
    Co-housing Project at Ciliwung Riverfront
    Jakarta, Indonesia
  •  meeting place
    Pondok Tagal
    Kampung Maligan, Malaysia
  •  emergency shelter
    Mud-Structure
    Kermanshah, Iran
  •  education
    Majuli School / GENERATING RESILIENCE
    majuli, India
  •  education
    Wadi Abu Hindi Playground
    Wadi Abu Hindi Bedouin camp, Palestinian Territories
  • play
     recreation & sport
    Plot ABC - phase 2
    Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)
  •  meeting place
    Custody House Of Memory
    Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia
  •  emergency shelter
    Bamboo Dome Structure
    Ramsar, Iran
  •  education
    Bamboo Kindergarten
    Tasikmalaya, Indonesia
  •  recreation & sport
    Jade Bamboo Cultural Plaza
    Shenzhen, China
  •  housing
    BAMBÚ SOCIAL
    El Rama, Nicaragua
  •  education
    Deyalkotha
    Dhaka, Bangladesh
  •  education
    Bamboo Manta Ray
    Koh Kood, Thailand
  •  education
    PLAYSCAPE
    Koh Rong Island, Cambodia
  •  work & business
    Sembalun Bamboo Youth Development Centre
    Lombok, Indonesia
  •  meeting place
    Chamanga Cultural Center
    Chamanga, Ecuador
  •  education
    Bamboo Alternative School
    Bogor, Indonesia
  •  meeting place
    CASA ENSAMBLE CHACARÁ
    Pereira, Colombia
  •  meeting place
    CICADA
    Taipei, Taiwan
  •  housing
    OA Bamboo House
    Various locations, Malaysia
  •  education
    JAHMAZING Bamboo Lab
    Marley Coffee Farm, Blue Mountains, Jamaica
  •  meeting place
    Community Center in Jatimulyo
    Yogyakarta, Indonesia
  •  housing
    Courtyard House
    Trapang Angchang, Cambodia
  •  education
    Okana center for change
    Okana, Kenya
  •  emergency shelter
    SBAM.it 2011
    Massarosa-Stiava (LU), Italy
  •  education
    Colegio de las Aguas Montebello
    Cali - Montebello, Colombia
  •  infrastructure
    Bamboo Bridge in Solo
    Solo, Indonesia
  • GC2022 finalist
     housing
    KuNa, Construyendo Sueños
    El Astillero, Tola, Nicaragua
  •  religion & memorial
    BAMBOO CHURCH
    yogyakarta, Indonesia
  • play
     meeting place
    Casa Comunal de la Isla de Portete / Ecuador.
    Portete, Ecuador
  •  recreation & sport
    Sport City
    Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico
  •  education
    MOVING school 002
    Mae Ramat, Thailand
  • play
    GC2022 finalist
     education
    KAKR BULUH AWAR
    Deli Serdang, Indonesia
  •  education
    Safe Haven Library
    Ban Tha Song Yang, Thailand
  •  education
    METI school
    Rudrapur, Bangladesh
  •  education
    EDAYA indigenous crafts and design school
    Baguio, Philippines
  • play
     education
    Mallki Wasi - Education for the Amazon guardians
    Kosñipata, Peru
  •  education
    Habitat initiative cabo delgado
    Cabo Delgado, Mozambique
  •  education
    Pani community centre
    Rajarhat, Bangladesh
  •  education
    Canteiro Móvel | Mobile Hands-on
    Botucatu, Brazil
next