„Experimental” earthen school

architect

Vékony Cintia

architectural consultant:
Kovács Péter DLA

Background informatin /History:

My thesis was preceded by a detailed preliminary study on earth building materials and earth architecture. The topic was mainly inspired by the abandoned and poorly preserved adobe buildings in Eastern Hungary. The importance of the topic is underlined by the fact that there are about 600,000 earthen buildings in Hungary, which are still inhabited today. In Szabolcs County, 25% of the housing stock is made up of earth-walled buildings. In the small settlements of central Hungary, 40%-50% of the buildings are of adobe construction. If these materials worked in the past, why not today? How can the image of earthen buildings and building materials be improved? How can they be used today? These and similar questions were the questions I sought answers to, initially in my study and then during the design of my thesis.

Place:

The location of my diploma is Kállósemjén, in the outlying part of Újszőlőkert, near Nagykálló. It is only 25 km away from Nyíregyháza, the county seat of Sabolsk. It is accessible by road, bicycle, public transport, bus and train. Kállósemjén is located in the heart of Nyírség, creating a centre that is accessible to everyone. My planning site is located in a semi-natural area bordered by woodland. Not far away is Lake Mohos, the last swimming lake in the birch region.

Walking around the area I came across a number of dilapidated adobe buildings and empty building plots. These buildings are located in the vicinity of my planning site. The area offers an opportunity to follow up on a previous initiative by the municipality to provide swallows' houses for young people, thus launching them into the real world.
Concept:

The building concept examined the relationship of the site to its surroundings, its accessibility, the density of the programme and functions, the relationship between the workshop site and the accommodation. The buildings consist of two parts. The steel frames, modelled on the closed TSZ sites in the area, and the walls created by the students during the internship. The steel envelope initially protects the trainees and later the building below them from the weather. The air circulation under the roof provides a pleasant climate. The overhang of the roof protects the walls from the damaging effects of precipitation. In terms of massing, the concept can also be divided into two parts. The massing of the workshop-house is a more modern form, closer to the architecture and technologies of today, which has an important role to play in improving the social image of adobe architecture. The massing of the accommodation building combines traditional vernacular architecture with modern solutions to create a link with the other buildings on the site and with the adjoining adobe houses.

My concept is to create a centre which, as well as providing the opportunity to learn and master the application of modern day earth architecture, will provide knowledge that will create jobs and contribute to sustainable construction. The earth school would be built in phases because, due to its experimental nature, there is no need to construct a huge factory building. The timing is also justified by the fact that this knowledge can best be deepened by seeing in practice how local resources can be explored and exploited. The construction of new buildings on vacant lots is a practical part of the education.

Function and floor plan:

Building in stages brings with it a gradual increase in functionality. First, the materials testing laboratory will be completed, and the location of the workshop yard where materials can be deposited will be designated. Deposit will be in wooden sheds, which can be constructed from local invasive trees. The materials testing laboratory will provide an opportunity to learn about the construction material and material properties of adobe. The next step is the indoor workshop or machine shop. A tool store will be constructed to provide safe storage for the tools needed for training. In addition to the practical training, a space for lectures on the developments may be needed, and this is the function of the training building. A larger lecture space, an internal workshop and a gallery level workshop space have been added. During the installation, great attention was paid to the orientation in order to allow as much natural light as possible to enter the interior spaces through polycarbonate openings. I opened the façade of the building towards the workshop space, which is the central space of the programme. The sliding doors are designed to be easily slidable by means of a hidden guide rail, helping to create a link between the two spaces. To store the dry materials and demonstration product samples, a materials storage area is required, which in this case consists of two parts. In order to allow for the most flexible storage and access to materials, the building is opened up from the workshop courtyard and the covered workshop. With the continued growth in numbers and programmes, more space will be needed for practical training. This is the role of the indoor outdoor workshop space, which is the central space of the programme. The indoor workshop space is the hub of functions and part of the practical training. The community building will be built after the workshop area, providing space for communal dining and other extra-curricular activities. Finally, an expandable accommodation building will be constructed. This will complete the programme. The accommodation will consist of three complexes of buildings. The rooms are located at the eastern and western ends, while the central building houses the bathrooms. The empty deck of the accommodation building provides the possibility for a possible bivouac. The mobile furniture designed for the rooms will allow four beds per room. The porch around the accommodation building and the roof overhang allow for self-shading, protecting the walls from the weather. In terms of the structural design of the workshop buildings, the walls are independent and do not close up to the steel structure. This allows for flexibility of design. The internal partition walls of the buildings are made of adobe brick, with the wet room, the front walls, covered with OSB board with fitted timber cladding. The boundary walls are constructed using the blocking technique, with strawboard insulation in the heated spaces. The structural design of the accommodation building follows the pattern of the adobe school buildings, combined with the massing of the traditional building. The façade walls are constructed using the double-layer blockwork technique. Between the two layers there is straw-board insulation. With the column and frame system and the raw texture of the battered wall, I wanted to create a building complex that would fit into the surrounding landscape, but also highlight the potential of earth architecture and create a working environment.