Current Las Malvinas Community Center Shade Structure

Abstract

This project is a collaboration between students enrolled in the Practivistas Dominicana Program and the rural community of Las Malvinas in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The community center in Las Malvinas currently functions as a space for the community to hold meetings and workshops; however, the lack of a durable shade and rain-proof structure along the outside of the building has prevented the community from being able to use the space when weather conditions are too hot or too rainy.

Background

The client at hand is the community of Las Malvinas in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. They have requested that a rain/shade structure be built by Practivistas Dominicana at their local community center (Estacion Ecological Comunitario) between May-July 2014. Three of the students working on the project are from Humboldt State University in California and one student from Universidad Iberoamericana in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. After a community meeting was held, it was determined that the structure should be able to protect from rain as well as sun so the community could hold meetings, classes and workshops in comfort. Community members voiced their opinions that aesthetics, durability, and locality of materials were some of their main concerns in regards to the construction of the structure. Bamboo and palm fronds are some of the possible local materials that could be utilized.

Problem Statement

The objective of this project is to design and construct a durable shade and rain-proof structure for the community center in Las Malvinas using local materials at a low cost. The end product must improve the utilization of the outside space surrounding the community center.

Criteria

This section includes all possible aspects thought up by the group members for this project as well as the community members of Las Malvinas and the directors of Practivistas Dominicana. These criteria were chosen to evaluate the project based on protection, locality, and durability. These criteria will help us to determine how much time, money, and effort should be invested in each aspect of the system based on its importance to our client (Las Malvinias).

Community meeting in Las Malvinas by current shade structure to determine community desires and criteria.
Community meeting in Las Malvinas by current shade structure to determine community desires and criteria.


Criteria Constraints Weight (0-10)
Costs must be under $400 USD 8
Aesthetics must be pleasing to the eye and look professional and natural 7
Durability must be able to withstand the test of time, light vandalism and misuse, and fire 9
Weather must be able to withstand hurricanes, caribbean rain storms, and caribbean sun exposure 10
Protection must be able to protect occupants from rain and sun 10
Locality/Maintainability must be made from local and accessible materials and be easily and cheaply repaired 7

Literature Review

See Las Malvinas community center shade/Literature Review for information relevant to this project.

Final Design

Timeline

This is the proposed timeline for when things should be done.

Objectives Proposed Date Completion Date Responsible
Choose Project June 6th June 6th Team
Literature Review June 7th June 7th Team
Harvest bamboo, design discussion, community meeting June 8th June 8th Team
Harvest bamboo June 10th June 10th Team
Harvest bamboo, purchase materials June 12th June 12th Team
Demolition, dig post hole, purchase recycled billboards June 14th June 14th Team
Budget, timeline, final design, purchase materials June 15th June 15th Baron
Prep bamboo for posts, finish demolition June 17th June 17th Team
Install posts, begin construction June 19th June 19th Team
Construction June 21st June 21st Team
Construction June 22nd June 22nd Team
Construction June 24th June 24th Team
Construction June 26th June 26th Team
Construction June 28th June 28th Team
Construction June 29th June 29th Team
Finish and clean up July 1st July 2nd Team
Presentation July 3rd July 3rd Team

Budget

This is the proposed draft budget for the shade structure.

Quantity Material Source Cost (RD$) Total (RD$)
1 Rope Las Malvinas 400.00 400.00
15 Wire Arroyo Norte 140.00 140.00
20 Corrugated Zinc Sheets Las Malvinas 1,000.00 1,000.00
15 2x4s Arroyo Norte 2,000.00 2,000.00
3 Recycled Billboards Billboards 'R Us 333.00 1,000.00
15 Recycled 55gal Drums Arroyo Norte 300.00 4,500.00
1 Tools Nacional 2,183.00 2,183.00
1 TBD Santo Domingo 8,000.00 8,000.00
Total Cost $15,683.00
Total Cost (RD$) $16,483.00
Total Cost (US$) $412.08

How to

See a step-by-step process of how this structure was built and how to recreate a similar structure below:

Before building with bamboo, it is advised to research techniques and recommendations for appropriate season for harvesting as well as methods of harvesting and drying. (For our project we used bamboo that was still partially green which is not desirable but was necessary based on time and resource constraints).

Image:LM demolition.jpg
Build a Bamboo Shade Structure

Video

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Maintenance

To make the maintenance of our project easier, various materials were left that could be used to keep the structural integrity sound. The vinyl glue used on to attach the billboard canvas together, rope, wire, and other tools were left at the Las Malvinas community center so repairs can be made in the event of degradation. The bamboo will need to be carefully monitored since it was used when it was still green and not coated with some kind of pest-resistant chemicals.

Schedule

Weekly

  • Check bamboo to ensure there is no cracking
  • Check bamboo to ensure it is not being attacked by pests
  • Monitor integrity of rope on lashed areas
  • Check to billboard to make sure it is still attached correctly

Monthly

  • Check integrity of cement on the bottoms of the bamboo structure
  • Check billboard canvas, reapply vinyl glue as needed
  • Re-lash any areas that have been degraded by weather, if needed

Yearly

  • Replace degraded zinc panels
  • Replace any weak spots in the structure with appropriate material

Every 2 Years

  • Replace billboard canvas

Conclusions

The finished shade structure consisted 2x4s lashed to bamboo poles which were filled with concrete and rebar and then sunk into holes in the ground filled with concrete. On one side of the fogon corrugated zinc panels were installed, and on the other side of the fogon the team built a bamboo truss. The team installed billboard vinyl panels over the bamboo truss by nailing down the vinyl to the zinc roof, and at the other end of the panel the team lashed onto the bamboo posts. On the side of the fogon with the billboard vinyl, it will be necessary to install more bamboo support beams underneath the vinyl to ensure its security and flatness.

Team

  • Marjorie Casado - marjocalara@gmail.com
  • Baron Creager - bmc83@humboldt.edu
  • Caitlin Faber - cjf336@humboldt.edu
  • Caelidh Liddell - crl307@humboldt.edu
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