Architecture

OVERVIEW

“This project has given me the opportunity to use whatever modest talents I had to challenge Architecture and Design away from its perceived exclusivity and the notion that inexpensive could not be inventive but only stereo-typically dreadful and bland.
What started as a shelter, evolved into a healing place that not only offers help but encourages hope and future ambitions  out of despair and poverty. A model that will now be repeated worldwide, using the same template but adorned in contextual and indigenous Architecture. Designed and built in a modular way, it allows for ease of construction and eventual growth into larger communities.”

Charles Debbas
Principal
Debbas Architecture

INSPIRATION

Debbas Architecture, led by Charles Debbas, weighed  mechanistic  modernism  against organic spirituality and opted for softly curving architecture  that  not  only  speaks  of  native round hut design, but that is also welcoming and  encourages  movement  and  exploration  in and around the  village, while providing a vivid yet calming language. Rising from the land, the architecture embraces past and present through its  simple yet  evocative  language  and  natural palette  of  materials, the  most  important  one being natural light.

Inspired  by  local architecture,  art  and artisans,  the design also draws inspiration from the site’s specific attributes, its proximity to key natural landmarks and the weather conditions.

DESIGN & MATERIALS

Great attention  was  given  to  natural  ventilation  and natural lighting (which is known to promote good mental health) as well as a number of sustainable solutions for water, power and sanitation.

The  modular  architecture  also  allows  for individualizing the separate buildings to create diversity and in the case of the residences for vulnerable children, a point of reference through different façade colors.

The main architectural and structural elements are fabricated off-site and consist of insulated prefabricated panels that make up an inner shell, with a horizontal louver system (made of a wood pattern resin fiberboard) as a secondary outer shell used for natural ventilation. An operable skylight connecting the shells is also used for ventilation and lighting. All window frames consist of clear anodized aluminum for durability and all glass is double glazed and insulated.