Cambodian Housing Competition: New Designs for Low Income Families
Collaboration between three NGOs results in design competition that brings new life to housing design and delivery for low-income familes living in Cambodia. Building Trust International, Habitat for Humanity and Karuna Cambodia announce details of the winning projects that will be built later this year.
Three international architecture firms have been announced as joint winners in a design competition that hopes to provide poor Cambodians with a better standard of living. The competition had over 600 registered entrants and a jury made up with representatives from Building Trust International, Habitat for Humanity Cambodia, Karuna Cambodia, MIT, Collective Studio, members of the Cambodian Society of Architects and most importantly the families that are going to live in the houses once they are built later this year.
The design competition asked for designs of a $2,000 house that can withstand flooding and offer a safe and secure home for low-income families in Cambodia. Habitat for Humanity Cambodia have supported the competition from the start and now plan to deliver these homes in the coming months giving the families that they support a chance to choose a design that relates to their specific lifestyle needs.
The three winning designs are ‘Wet + Dry House’ by Mary Ann Jackson, Ralph Green, Muhammad Kamil and Nick Shearman from Australian firm Visionary Design Development Pty Ltd.
The jury picked three designs that reflected the desire to have a large flexible space to meet changing family needs, a space to rear chickens and a design that allowed for a shop front on the ground floor.
A wide range of submissions made use of sustainable materials and highlighted the need for Cambodia to look at the nature of the booming construction industry and to think about more environmentally friendly ways of meeting the housing demand. The short listed designs show both traditional and new techniques in reducing the carbon footprint of delivering new homes. There will be an exhibition in Phnom Penh in May showcasing the best designs and the winning projects.
