KEYWORDS:

SHORT DESCRIPTION:

• The key elements of this building system are hollow steel connectors and specially formed earth blocks made in a manual block press (with a system of inserts).

• The steel connectors have either square or circular cross-sections and are used to connect straight pipes of square or circular section, or even sawn timber or bamboo components, to form the basic framework, which carries a light, corrugated aluminium sheet roof.

• The earth blocks, produced on the MARO Block Press (see ANNEX), are made to interlock with the framework to form durable walls. This system is ideally suited for disaster relief housing projects. A single truck-load of connectors, roofing sheets and a few block presses can be sufficient to build a group of houses with local soil and bamboo.

• The framework should rest on concrete strip foundations, though for temporary structures no foundation is needed.

• The walls can initially be plastic sheets (for immediate shelter), which are gradually replaced by earth blocks or even locally available burnt clay bricks, such that the quickly erected refugee tent camps are efficiently converted into permanent housing by self-help and low-cost methods. Extensions are possible in all directions.

Further information: Mark Klein, MARO Enterprise, 95 bis Route de Suisse, CH-1290 Versoix (Geneva), Switzerland.

MARO Construction System

Steel connectors with square and circular sections