A mobile, relocatable school building
image: public domain
image: public domain
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After the success of the MOVING schools competition and the completion of MOVING School 001. Building Trust were approached to deliver a similar mobile school design for a further school community. HOPE school which is 50km east of Mae Sot were desperately in need of a new school building to be located within a dense bamboo forest. With the assistance of Jan Glasmeier from Agora Architects and funding Japan Association for Mae Tao Clinic (JAM) we were able to build a third MOVING School.
It is very integral to the strength of the project that the local community including teachers and parents are consulted on the school design. During the MOVINGschool 003 build parents, teachers and pupils were very keen to help build their new school classrooms and helped on site to build the school foundstions. Working with Ironwood Studio ensured the employment of local apprentices highly skilled in metal and wood work.
The concept of the MOVINGschool project is to provide displaced or informally settled communities with safe well designed spaces that provide the core functions of both school buildings & community hubs. In order for this to be sustainably achieved the buildings are transportable, yet convey a sense of permanence & stability. Providing education to displaced groups is integral to ensuring the loss of a generation does not occur. The project is a reaction to the lack of long term security felt by displaced community groups & the lack of secure sustainable investment routes for aid agencies where land is rented or disputed.
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.
The skeletal steel frame is designed for zero waste using uniform sized elements or divisions of standard lengths. Reclaimed tyres filled with gravel form foundations which can be relocated along with the school if desired.
The wall material is a twin polycarbonate which was kindly donated by Bayer Thailand. We greatly appreciate their support for our projects. The material creates a sun resistant, light classroom environment for HOPE school pupils.
A cementitious wood board material was used to create a strong and easy to clean floor for the school classrooms.
