Case Studies

The following case studies highlight the research into key concepts of the sustainable shelter:

Shigeru Ban, The Takatori Church & the use of Cardboard Tubes.  

Shigeru Ban is noted to be interested in weak materials and is renowned for paper tube construction; drawing from old modernist ideals; he wanted beauty to be obtainable by the masses, even the poorest. ‘Refugee shelters have to be beautiful’ he says. ‘Psychologically refugees are damaged.’[1] He began to use the cardboard tubes in the mid 80s. He was impressed by the by the material’s load bearing capacity labelling cardboard improved wood.

Used as a rescue base post the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995, The Takatori Church designed by Shigeru Ban offered a lodge for volunteers and was used a soup kitchen. It was ultimately recognised as a community based cultural exchange[2].

A key sustainable reference is that although the centre was deconstructed in 2005, the city of Nantou, Taiwan, which suffered the 921 earthquake received the Takatori Church where it was reconstructed and is used as a place of worship.

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This case not only confirmed the strength of a low impact and affordable material  such as cardboard tubes, but drew on a element of reuse highlighting the cradle to cradle movement.  

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[1] Time.com, Belinda Luscombe, He Builds With a Really Tough Material: Paper, Architecture and Design The Next Wave, 2000. 

[2] wikipedia.org/wiki/Takatori_Catholic_Church, 2011

Analysis of existing construction: Westborough Primary School.

This particular project was set up as a basis for others who may consider using this construction technique in the future. The client had hoped this approach would help to reduce the environmental impact of construction in the future.

The cardboard elements of this construction were manufactured in a manner specified by the engineer. This case study presented examples if we were to progress this project further; we would use this information as a basis. As this is only a prototype at this stage, we will utilize the recycled materials made available to use through local waste.

As cardboard is to seal both the walls and ceilings the waterproofing of these elements is crucial to the longevity of this structure. The structure is to undergo simulated rainfall for 5 minutes, this being the main concern. There is also further concern with cardboard being hygroscopic, meaning it will absorb moisture from the air.  In the Westborough school construction there was a 3-step approach to the protection of the card:

a)      Water-resistant additives are added to the card during production rendering the board water resistant. This option wasn’t available to use as we were using non-specific, recycled cardboard.

b)      Different coatings were applied to the exterior and interior of the card to help manage the issues arising from moisture within the building. For the purpose of our testing we decided it was appropriate to only apply a coating to the exterior of the card.

c)      Overcladding was applied to the finished board to improve longevity of their building. The cardboard was deeming waterproof and structurally sound, however an impact of any kind would have made these elements vulnerable to moisture and degradation. As longevity was not a concern during this testing stage this level of protection was deemed excessive.

We needed to consider how the cardboard would be sealed from the elements. We discussed various methods of sealing, finally opting for a layer of PVA glue to be applied to the exterior. A PVA glue was used in the manufacturing process of the cardboard in this school, further confirming our decision to use this method.

There were significant costs incurred for the Westborough Primary School project. Although the basis of the project was to use freely available recycled material, the prototype nature and processing of the elements led to relatively high costs. We are attempting to keep our costs to a minimum by amending our design to suit the properties of the materials that are available.