Local Timber to Support Community Growth

The research presented in this paper focuses on utilizing local resources and innovative construction methodologies to create novel, high-performance buildings through deployable digital design and fabrication techniques. Customized design and fabrication workflows are developed as a robust strategy to support prosperity and community re-settlement on a remote island. The research prototypes a health and education facility as proof of concept of the proposed digital design and localised fabrication workflow. Located off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, Hope Island is explored as a site to prototype the design and fabrication workflow proposal. The Tlatlasikwala people – original inhabitants of the island – have expressed an interest in re-occupying it after being wrongfully driven off the land1. The strategy proposed through this research aims to augment and support them by enabling an economic model that promotes community localism. It integrates cutting-edge technology with local skills and knowledge to ensure efficient materials use through customized robotic fabrication systems. The strategy reduces carbon emissions by engaging with local material properties, minimizing the need to transport a wealth of equipment and materials offshore, and promoting circularity. The design of a health and education facility is used to apply material and fabrication research in a prototypical way. Additionally, it addresses the island requirement for a local clinic and classrooms for children, both essential for the residents to establish a life on the island. The design is developed with programmatic flexibility allowing for expansion and change. However, the focus is on an efficient design to fabrication workflow based on local resources and form-found geometries. This research project directly responds to the principles of the AIA framework for design excellence by engaging with design for equitable communities and design for local resources. The building application fosters human interaction and sociability, while the custom-designed fabrication process ensures that the community is engaged in the construction and takes ownership of the project. Bringing digital fabrication to the remote island up-skills the community in an engaging way that showcases technical innovation augmented with local skills. By deploying a strategy that uses architectural geometry and digital fabrication to capitalize on local natural resources while minimizing materials waste, the island is provided with a process that can efficiently support the growing community socially and materially for years to come.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AIA.Inter.21.9

Volume Editors
Rico Quirindongo & Georgeen Theodore

ISBN
978-1-944214-39-5