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Plans and How to Choose Them

Cultural Factors

Self Help Housing: Recreating the Vernacular with Safer Materials 

This 10-page PDF by Patti Stouter describes how help with rebuilding should allow Haitians to recreate the local texture and style of their towns and cities in earthquake and hurricane resistant buildings. One example illustrates the use of a simple earth material for transitional housing in a traditional Haitian house form.

Haitian Wisdom for Aid Building

This 29 page PDF by Patti Stouter covers how to arrange buildings for community involvement, how to replicate familiar architectural features, and discusses some of the history of Haitian styles.

Orienting Buildings

A discussion of how houses are oriented on the land, with a particular look at Haitian customs.

Temporary Shelter Plans

Choosing Shelter Plans goes into some detail about what factors will influence your choice for appropriate shelter plans. A 25-page printable PDF of the same document is here.

Basic Emergency Shelter The building concept outlined in this 8-page PDF document consists of sandbag (earthbag) walls filled with sand or soil from the site, and tarps for roofing. These emergency shelters would only be slightly more expensive than tarps by themselves, but provide superior protection against wind, rain, heat, cold, snow, bullets, fire, flooding, hurricanes and noise.

Raised Tent Floor with Seat  It's standard building practice to raise shelter floors about 6" above existing grade, or even higher in flood-prone areas, to prevent water from entering the structure. Earthbags make this simpler and also can keep wind-driven rain out of shelters, brace walls against storm winds,  and provide raised seating or beds that will stay dry.

Round Emergency shelter Plan This design incorporates a round, earthbag structure partially inset into the ground. Rice bags or sandbags are filled with local soil and tamped in place to create the walls. The roof is built with poles salvaged from destroyed buildings, covered with straw, grass, leaves or whatever is available, covered with plastic sheeting or tarps, and bermed with earth to hold in place. The size can vary according to local needs, and therefore dimensions are not shown.

Transitional & Permanent House Plans

Choosing House Plans This 35-page PDF guide explains how to choose simple plans using locally available materials that can fit the culture and still resist hazards well.

L-Kay Transitonal Plan  This is a transitional design that allows people to start off with a small, easy to build shelter and then add more rooms later.

Ti Kay Plan  This small earthbag plan could serve many purposes, such as for a dormitory, office or home. You can access this printable PDF file.

Institutional Plans

Small Double Classroom Module This PDF file describes a simple, expandable classroom that features a unique reinforced buttress arrangement.

Customize Your Small Earthbag Classroom Building explains how to take the above design and modify it for your locale or situation.

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