Project Introduction
Objective
The objective for this project is to build a small local pharmacy (Botica Popular) for the people of Las Malvinas, which will provide basic medical supplies and medications to the community at a much lower cost. The pharmacy will be built over a cistern that is currently being finished. The goal is to design and construct a sound structure that utilizes local and readily available materials and implements the use of plastic waste. The end product must be cost efficient and must satisfy the communities wants and needs.
Background
The site location of our project is in the heart of a community called Las Malvinas. Las Malvinas is located in Santo Domingo Norte, across from Rio Isabela, and is home to more than 150 families. A number of community leaders gathered at a meeting with members from ColectivoRevark and Practivistas Dominicana on June 2, 2013 to discuss the needs of the community. It was settled that the top priority of the community was to build a structure for a local pharmacy. The goal of this construction project was to construct a building that contains less embeded energy than a traditional concrete structure, and utilized local and affordable materials. The project was divided into two alternative construction student groups. Three walls of the pharmacy will be built using concrete blocks built with alternative materials. The interior wall separating the storage room and service room will be built using an ecoladrillo technique. The exterior walls were reserved for block construction to avoid the issue of compromising security concerns of building with plastic bottles. The ecoladrillo team consists of Mabel, Cesar, and Hammerly (UNIBE students) and Brandon, Adrienne, and Justine (Humboldt State University students). With the help of numerous community members, a number of prototypes were tested to find a satisfactory ecoladrillo model for the wall. Our goal is to finish the pharmacy by July 6th, 2013.
Literature Review
See Las Malvinas Botica Popular Ecoladrillo 2013/Literature Review for relevant research completed for this project.
Criteria
| Criteria | Constraints | Weight (0-10) |
|---|---|---|
| Safety | Building components and methods are safe for employees and customers | 10 |
| Security | The wall could withstand basic burglary attempts | 9 |
| Affordability | The building is within program budget | 8 |
| Materials | Appropriate and locally sourced materials, easily obtained by community | 8 |
| Longevity | The structure is built with the future in mind; something that will last | 8 |
| Replicability | The building is built using methods that can be replicated by community members | 7 |
| Climate/Environmental | The structure is weather resistant and environmentally appropriate | 7 |
| Educational | The methods and the structure act as an educational piece | 6 |
| Aesthetics | No visual impacts according to community preference | 5 |
Timeline
| Date | Activity | Photos | Members | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 5th | Work on cistern and meet with the community of Las Malvinas |  |
Everyone | |
| June 6th | Begin collecting plastic bottles in la Zona Colonial | upload photo | Adrienne, Brandon, Cesar, Justine, Mabel | |
| June 10th | Make signs to collect plastic bottles and raise awareness of community project on UNIBE campus |  |
Brandon,Mabel | |
| June 15 | Develop prototypes. Using a wooded frame (2' x 4') and chicken wire, the group experimented with a mortar and plastic bottle wall. In addition, a similar technique was used to develop a block type prototype. On this day more progress was made on the cistern as well. Also, many valuable community concerns were presented. Most notably from Gregory and Julio who expressed their concerns with security, stating that a ecoladrillo on a pharmacy that carries valuable medicine would need to be able to withstand burglary. At the end of the day, Domingo, a valuable asset in previous projects was contacted and it was agreed that we would meet the following morning to further discuss ecoladrillo. | upload pictures | Adrienne, Brandon, Justine, Mabel | |
| June 16 | Meet with Domingo. Clay prototype. Cistern | upload pictures | Adrienne, Brandon, Cesar, Justine, Mabel |
Tentative Timeline
| Date | Activity |
|---|---|
| June 17th | Continue Research, develop new prototypes |
| June 18th | Complete 1 prototype |
| June 19th | Collect more plastic bottles, complete second prototype |
| June 20th | Collect more plastic bottles |
| June 21st | Making columns with community |
| June 22, 23, 24 | Build walls |
| June 25th | First layer of plaster |
| June 26th | Second layer of plaster |
| June 27th | Final layer of plaster |
| June 28th | Floor, roof...?? |
| June 29th | Finishes on walls |
| June 30th | Wrap up project |
| July 1st | Finish Documentation |
| July 4 | Presentation |