Project Updates - South Sudan Education Project

The Australian Good Samaritan College Project addresses two major challenges in South Sudan; improving the quantity and quality of female school teachers and encouraging girls to remain in school and obtain a formal education. It is estimated less than 1% of girl's complete primary school in Sudan and after more than two decades of civil war the College is an opportunity for women who are returning home, to train locally, obtain new skills and receive an income.

The AGSC site is located in Wau, South Sudan. The project brief was to provide facilities for a women's learning centre focusing on training primary and secondary school teachers. The college will include eight classrooms to accommodate two-hundred students, adjoined to operational facilities including administration offices, kitchen and dining facilities and office space for teaching staff. It will also provide boarding facilities for approximately one hundred and sixty students, making it possible for women to reside on campus and eliminate long journey's home everyday.
















The master plan is derived from the inside out. The meeting hall is the heart of the college functioning as the main gathering space for meals, assemblies and activities. The courtyards are designed for smaller informal gatherings offering shade, intimacy and familiarity. The built form is orientated towards the meeting hall and is bound by a continuous verandah to maintain access all year round.




The Rufisque Women's Centre, Senegal is a benchmark project for its architectural clarity, as well as its integration of local and recycled building materials.



A water tower is located above the kitchen to store rainwater for drinking, amenities and irrigation depending on rainfall. The service facilities are located outside the building ring including parking facilities, a security office, an orchard and vegetable garden. The entire site is fenced to prevent wild animals from entering.

The master plan allows for the construction to be staged over time depending on available funds and any potential future expansion


Retain local palms
(Pheonix sp.) on site
and use to create
entry statement.

..... .....

example of water tower to harvest

rainwater for clean drinking water,

amenities and irrigation

(St Judes, Arusha Tanzania）

discussion about the need to offer pro bono work

I found the following discussion about the need and, as argued by some, obligation to offer pro bono work--what do you think?
Find this discussion here

The Age: on one of arch-peace probono project

Photo: Roger Cummins
Carlton uni squat talks stall

Annie Lawson (The Age)
October 9, 2008

"NEGOTIATIONS have stalled between the University of Melbourne and students squatting in terrace houses the university owns in Carlton.

Fifteen homeless students moved into the Faraday Street properties two months ago, frustrated by soaring rents and a shortage of suitable properties.

Although vice-chancellor Glyn Davis has publicly lamented the student housing shortage, nothing has been done, according to the squatters.

The rental vacancy rate in inner Melbourne is 1.1% and the university's residential colleges, which house about 2300 students, are full.

According to the university's Student Housing Services, students are spending up to 40% of their income on rent.

The student squatters have installed fire alarms, repaired holes in the floors, patched leaking pipes and draped banners over the balconies promoting SHAC - the Student Housing Action Collective. The not-for-profit organisation Architects for Peace has agreed to plan a renovation so the terraces can accommodate 40 students. The Melbourne body wants to follow the lead of the University of Sydney co-operative STUCCO, which charges rents as low as $70 a week. The Melbourne collective's spokeswoman, Allegra Reinalda, said: "It's a public statement about what students want in terms of housing - they want the co-operative model that enables a community atmosphere."

But the university refuses to negotiate until the students move out. Student Housing Services manager Adrian Burrage said the university was exploring co-operative housing but declined to comment on whether it would consider the Faraday Street terraces.

The squatters get most of their food from supermarket rubbish skips."

Find this article here: http://www.theage.com.au/national/carlton-uni-squat-talks-stall-20081008-4wqz.html

SHAC Housing Co-operative

272-278 Faraday Street, in Carlton, Melbourne, is the site of a proposed housing co-operative. The terrace house is owned by the University of Melbourne and was recently occupied by Student Housing Action Collective (SHAC), who noticed that the buildings had been empty for 3 years. The group is seeking an architect through the Architects for Peace Pro Bono Referral Service to assist with a feasibility study for an upgrade of the terrace houses to suit a co-op. The study will be presented to University Council in late October.

Contact Arch-Peace Pro Bono if you are interested in helping SHAC.

SHAC's description: Student Housing Action Collective (SHAC) is a project aimed at providing student-run affordable student housing. Our pilot proposal is the conversion of the property at 278 Faraday Street, Carlton, into a student managed housing co-operative. SHAC arose in response to the current housing crisis which has seen a decline in the quantity of affordable student housing combined with an increase in rental costs. Recognising that the University is increasingly worried about the plight of local and international students both with regards to financial viability and the housing crisis, SHAC sees itself as one of numerous possible responses by providing dynamic and equitable student housing. The strength of the SHAC process is that it provides a model for active local and international student participation in the search for solutions around affordable student housing.


SHAC's request:
We require a feasibility study and costing for renovation of the site which is in line with the aims and principles of SHAC (including shower facilities, a back exit, solar power, a sprinkler system, hard-wired smoke detectors etc). We wish to present such a study to University Council on OCTOBER 20th to show the feasibility of our project.

arch-peace news and articles: Review of last month's words @ bldg50...

Review of last month's words @ bldg50...
Mel Bright and Tarryn Boden from emerging Melbourne practice MAKE architecture studio presented the Bird Hide design project that they are currently developing for Friends of Westgate Park on Thursday 7 August.

http://archpeace.blogspot.com/2008/08/review-of-last-months-words-bldg50.html

words@bld.50: Free public lecture .: August 7 .: Bird hide at Westgate Park .: pro-bono design in action

http://urbantalks.blogspot.com/2008/07/free-public-lecture-bird-hide-at.html:

When: Thursday 7 August 2008, 7pm
Where: RMIT building 50, Orr St (off Victoria St) Carlton

Melissa Bright & Tarryn Boden from MAKE architecture studio will present the Bird Hide Project at Westgate Park, Melbourne

Poll: Is a AU$1.5M project too large for pro bono?

Poll: Architects for Peace pro bono team wants to know your view:

Is a AU$1.5M project too large for pro bono?

Please choose one option from the statements located in the pro bono webpage, left hand side column.

South Sudan Education Aid Project

This project is for the design of an education centre in Southern Sudan. The centre was to be located next to an existing primary and secondary school and it’s aim was to provide adult education with a particular focus on women’s education.

Our client, the South Sudanese Australia Christian Education Aid (SSACEA), based in Fitzroy, Melbourne were linked with 2 of our members Anissa Webb (a landscape architect) and James Stewart (an architect) also based in Melbourne. Anissa and James have previously worked on a school project in Tanzania, separate to Architects for Peace.

After a few briefing meetings with SSACEA, Anissa and James have prepared a new layout plan of the education centre based on a bubble diagram and brief provided by SSACEA. This has since been taken back to the community for their comments.

More updates and images here.