Physical Build - let's put heads together!

As one of the Imagine This! Producers I'd like to challenge this amazing group to come up with more specifics of the build. Remember, not only that the project has to happen in 6+1 days (don't forget the celebration!) - the same build has to be effective and replicable enough to be repeated by any other committed group anywhere else where a child service facility may be needed - in the mountains of Bhutan or Montana!

SO, how would you do it? What costs, resources, brilliant engineering insights and solutions could make this project happen? How do you propose to stay specific to the kids with this particular need? What parts of the facility must be designed to serve your chosen population? How do you make all of this self-sufficient in some way? (imagine bringing a production/educational facility along into the build etc. etc.)

Post your ideas as responses to this discussion! Good luck!

Tags: Build Imagine This!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joan Lin on August 22, 2009 at 11:36am

Wow...that's great that the producers have approached the group for more specifics!
From my little experience with another organization, having an abundance of cloth diapers made by the organization's own staff, proved to be a cost effective strategy even after factoring labor costs of cleaning them. Also, they had made their own baby slings and U shaped pillows so that those items didn't have to be bought.

So, I suppose my suggestion is that whatever can be made by the talents of staff, could be a good investment.
I hope that's the type of suggestion you might be looking for!
Keep up the great work! It'd be great to go back to China again and see one of your homes in the future!

Permalink Reply by Richard Lane on August 22, 2009 at 1:31pm

The time restraint is a killer - I mean how many useful buildings can actually be built in a week (and we're not talking Extreme Makeover here). I could see, however, with diligent planning and scheduling to take an existing and perhaps dormant building that meets the size, location, and structural needs and transform it into a facility such as is needed for a cleft hospital. This would be a realistic and easily replicable process in any area of the world. A standard issue of the required equipment for a single patient at a time could be researched and set (medical input required) and then simply multiplied based on the available space and/or needs of the specific location. This is doable.

Permalink Reply by Betsy Borgacz on August 22, 2009 at 1:42pm

China Healing Home Build Project:

• Building the project in close proximity to the orphanage so that siblings of a child with cleft, as this might happen, would have access to one another.

• Work with a medical school that has study abroad to create a study abroad program for medical students to teach compassion, how to help with cleft repair and help sustain the house through fees charged to host students.

• Add an educational component (possibly a room for classes and interaction with cleft babies and repaired cleft children) for hospitals and midwives that deliver babies & council new mothers in surrounding villages/towns to help prevent the abandonment of future cleft children.

• Partner with a company that builds, renovates, or tears down buildings and utilize reusable components or ready made components. It seems to renovate an available space would be the most logical route as Richard Lane below says.

Permalink Reply by Joan Lin on September 10, 2009 at 8:34am

Thanks for commenting Richard, one other thing that I learned is that you should pick a building that is able to sustain the work that you do. Enough electricity and water are a must! Also, research the area you are going in, people may not want to live next to a children's home with crying children and staff changes through out the day.

Keep up the great work LWB!

Permalink Reply by Amy Carol Wolff on September 10, 2009 at 8:46am

Hey there! From this point on we'll be sending out weekly communications to our members featuring a project each week to help develop the specifics! And for next Monday, you're the group!! Feel free to contact me about what you'd like us to include!

Cheers!
Amy
Project Coordinator, Imagine This! TV

Permalink Reply by Sander Koyfman on September 16, 2009 at 10:10am

Our hope with the tight time line is that it will force the engineers/cast/viewers to come up simpler, cheaper, faster solutions that could get implemented in more places than one particular build. Serializing doing good - is my motto!

What are the fastest construction methods out there? Anyone with the Army Corps of Engineers out there? Those guys have an incredible know-how of doing things right and fast!

Permalink Reply by Love Without Boundaries on September 26, 2009 at 3:38pm

Definitely think that this should start in an existing building, renovating. I know that this could be done within a week.

Needs are a kitchen, to prepare bottles and for caregiver breaks, bathroom with bathing facilities for babies, and baby rooms.

Essential to this project is a nearby children's hospital who will be willing to partner with this project. They will do the initial exams, provide care of babies too sick to be admitted to the home, and then do the cleft surgeries when the child is ready.

The great news is that these are self-sufficient, totally Chinese run, and are truly lifesaving.

What else can we send to help with this planning?

Thank you so much!

Permalink Reply by Love Without Boundaries on October 21, 2009 at 6:58am

Budget to build a 3200sq ft. Cleft Home to care for 15 children at a time from an existing apartment space

Upstairs sitting room addition $2000

Electric $800

Plumbing $500

Heating $4500

Tile $3000

Woodwork $3500

Staircase $1500

Ceilings $1200

Paint $2700

Wages for workers $5000

Delivery costs $400

Flooring $5500

Lights $800

Doors $1000

Curtains $1500

Storage shelves $300

Sitting room furniture/rug $3000

Kitchen appliances/cabinets $6000

Bath/Laundry fixtures/appliances $10000

Office furniture/computer/camera $4000

Baby Room furniture $3000

Air conditioning $7000

Total $67200

Permalink Reply by Allyson Ingerman on October 21, 2009 at 9:11am

In 2007 I built a Quonset hut - 30' wide by 40' long by 17' high. It took a day to bolt the ribs together and 3 full days to raise the ribs and bolt them to each other - has a wind and water tight metal shell, can withstand enormous pressure from snow load, looks cool and is readily adaptable.

I can't seem to find pics of when I got the end walls up (buried in blog posts somewhere).

The building can be bolted to a slab, bolted to a concrete trough or bolted to a wooden/stone foundation or wall.

You can easily build out the interior for a second story internally, run electrical, water, HVAC or anything else you need. Insulation can be spray on, roll out or a specific kind that attaches to the bolts on the ribs.

You can easily expand the building by adding more ribs - they even have translucent ribs that allow light in. The entire package fits easily in a Conex for shipping (and you could keep the Conex for living or working space as well).

These buildings come in several variations - ours has flat panels for the first 4', but a true Quonset hut would be curved from side to side with no straight pieces.

The coolest part - I actually assembled myself with the help of a 4 man day labor crew. We bolted it together, roped it off, raised the panels and attached them to each other. It was a lot of work, but so simple that I could easily tell the guys what to do and with no knowledge of construction get the thing built in a few days time.

Hows that?

Allyson

Permalink Reply by Allyson Ingerman on October 22, 2009 at 7:29pm

After catching the last bit of the call tonight, hearing about the government constraints, sounds like a movable structure is in order. Possibly something that could be built in the States (or wherever) and assembled onsite in the allotted timeframe, could then be moved if necessary.

I may have just the thing, will see if I can sketch it out coherently.

A

Permalink Reply by Sander Koyfman on October 25, 2009 at 8:56pm

This looks incredibly cool! I believe that something like this could easily produced locally and reproduced in any number of settings! Great stuff.

Permalink Reply by Betsy Borgacz on October 26, 2009 at 6:55pm

It seems like this would be a good build for spaces that don't need natural light at much, like medical facilities, sanitation, etc. It a hot area, I wonder if it would work because of ventilation. Seems like it might be a big hot box. I don't know much about Quonset Huts outside of their use in WWII. but I know the downsides of many of the other metal homes. Poor insulation, heat rises too the top but your feet are freezing, and in the summer months it's so hot you don't want to be inside because of poor circulation.