In Kariakoo hundreds of people struggle on the streets, desperately trying to earn enough for food. Nights on the streets are hard, with frequent thefts.
We are providing a building with shelter and work opportunities for this group of people. The homeless shelter is located in the heart of Kariakoo, with close proximity to the food market. Every day trucks loaded with vegetables and fruits from the peripheries of Dar come in to K´koo, approximately 1,5 out of 3,5 tonnes are not sold and either stored or wasted.
We propose to compost and thereby recycle organic waste form the markets for further use and sale of soil and fertilizer.
The plot has no drainage system on site and therefore some difficulties with handling the surface water when it rains.
In Dar it rains in average 1100mm a year, more than “the rainy city” – Seattle (920mm), also more than Oslo (763mm) but not more than Bergen (2250mm)
The surface water is brought with pipes under ground in to an open well from the inside of the building. This water is filtered with plants and re-mediated for run off pollution (PCB's and heavy metals) so it can be used for the compost.
The roof also collects the rainwater, and stores it in different tanks for different purposes, one for toilet use, another for food and drinking and the last for compost use.
The Plot is approx. 450 m2 and is located between a ten- floor hotel in the north and a three floor commerce /apartment building in the south. In the courtyard on the west there’s located some public toilets.
The Building is three floors high with a taller commercial floor on the ground. Here we receive, produce and sell soil and fertilizer. In total up to 66 tonnes of compost can be produced here every two months. The water pond is located in the center of the floor, with the “composting boxes” around. The footprint of the water pond is repeated as an atrium in the next floor, with the vertical communication located in this open area. The second floor is divided into two parts; the core of it is used as administration and seating for meetings and eating. Around it there is storage possibilities for the homeless that still is on the streets. They can enter 24 hours with a staircase on the west faced facade.
The top floor is where the homeless sleep. The floor is divided with inner walls to separate men, women and couples. Toilets and wash rooms is located in both ends.
The Materials are based on two words; re-use and recycle. A concrete skeleton construction is making is possible to make walls that are easy to put up and carrying nothing but its own weight. At the ground floor the facade between the columns is made of re-used plastic bottles and adobe. The bottles is filled with sand and stacked as bricks, with adobe as mortar.
The interior walls are cages filled with construction waste from demolished building sites.
The facade in the second floor is made with the same principle as on the ground floor. The wall dividing the storage and administration is made of concrete. In the third floor the facade is more light and breathy. Between the columns there is plants growing, living on fertilizer from the ground floor. All the walls in the building leave a gap for ventilation.
The building is providing solutions for common problems like lack of drainage, water storage and ventilation of buildings, as well as reuse of common materials. These techniques can easily be implemented in other plots and buildings around Kariakoo and Dar es Salaam.