Affordable Housing – Low Cost Rental Apartments

[Bernard Lefebvre]

The Blooms. Low cost rental studio apartments (1,130 units) in the center of Bangkok (Soi Sribampen, Yannaw District). Three 9-storey buildings for a total of 27,800 m2 using the Habitech Building System (load bearing interlocking block walls). A turnkey project of the Lock Build Group for St. Paul Co. Ltd. Construction Costs 5.4 m USD.

You can see more at http://www.habitech-international.com

[ArchiMotion]

This is common sense, but worth noting - the project of the individual buildings themselves is good, but with those apartment blocks jumbled up so tightly, certainly residents will be looking into the windows of neighbors and the spaces in between the structures will tend to be darker, without direct sunlight. The density of such project should be reduced or a larger acre lot used.

Although interlocking blocks and soil cement systems are not new, it is good to see the system being promoted on a large scale and in various projects around the world, benefiting low income housing. And the system being set-up in such as way as to maximize production and enable local low-skill labor to do much of the work.

In essence, when we have an optimized affordable construction system, we should keep in mind the best interest of the users in the habitable space.

Not to infrequently in the past have we seen large low-income housing projects turn into behemoths that are impractically located, not aesthetically pleasing and generate many problems for the inhabitants. In the case of this project, many factors of the site are not known, so we can only analyze the preliminary issues which came to mind.

[Richard Haut]

Bernard .... you are selling yourself short.

tell us about what Habitech has achieved, about the "Bricks of Hope", about the many successful schemes. The one that you have shown is not the best architectural example, is it ? (and you are not just a brick salesman, are you ?)

[Bernard Lefebvre]

Richard, you are right. I may be selling myself short but my purpose in participating in this forum has been to illustrate that it is possible to address affordable housing in developing or emerging economies. Affordable housing, although it may not be architecture with a capital A, nevertheless concerns a very large demand that needs to be addressed.

To give a little more background: the project was commissioned by the private sector

While respecting the local building code and the required environmental impact study, these buildings provide housing units to low-income segments of the population working in the central area of Bangkok at an affordable rate (the target was 75 USD per month – now a little more than 100 USD as the Baht appreciated against the USD); this for a construction cost of less than 20 USD per ft2. The buildings provide all of the services one would expect in spaces located on the ground floor (convenience stores, restaurant, laundry, internet, etc.).

During construction, building regulations changed requiring that parking spaces be included in the last two buildings constructed (one car space for every 120 m2 of apartment). This didn’t make sense for these buildings as residents don’t own cars, work in the central district and use public transportation. The regulations are changing again; now parking spaces will not be required for buildings situated within a kilometer of the sky and the underground trains in Bangkok to encourage the use of mass transportation systems.

Of course we have been involved in the design and construction of many private sector - high cost ‘condominium’- housing projects. Using our building system, there is basically no difference between high costs and affordable units, as the system provides the envelope and the structure at the same time. The difference in construction costs stems from the level of finishes used and the size of the units.

Right, I don’t sell bricks, I promote light industries and construction techniques modeled on private sector enterprises that procure solid and durable houses, create employment and provide income while generating profits making them sustainable, as they don’t pollute, degrade the environment or contribute to greenhouse effects. I have been designing and implementing housing projects all over the world for the last 30 years while teaching graduates and undergraduates at various universities in the field housing architecture, construction technology and environmental management.

I guess I am just trying to show that there are many opportunities for architects in this field.