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.
Criteria and constraints are needed to determine the success of a solution. Criteria are weighted with 10 being most important and 0 being least important.
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
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.
