care community centre

Concept: This community space is designed for the Syrian population inhabiting the socially and climatically extreme environment of the Azraq Refugee Camp in East Jordan desertic grounds. Resulting in a modular healthy coherent building with an integral design system that makes the most of the scarce local resources. Particular attention is on providing a viable and reliable flow of water and gas, particularly useful in the community kitchen, toilets and courtyards. Thus, focal is the wastewater decentralised vertical flow system with annex biogas production.

Construction: With the goal of making more intentional technical choices, the design process is inverse from the typical, beginning with the delineation of the key ‘design tool’: the Interlocking Compressed Earth Block (I.C.E.B.). Produced with earth excavated from the Camp grounds, and inspired by Syrian tradition. Combined with waste materials of the standard T-shelters found onsite, the I.C.E.B. enables construction with minimum dependence on the low flows of goods coming from the outside of the camp. Besides, the possible involvement of local labor offers the community a sense of participation, economic revenue and transferable skills possibly valuable in their future.