Mutu umodzi susenza denga one head alone cannot lift a roof.

How a team of volunteer architects and engineers assembled by Feilden Clegg Bradley helped a community develop a prototypical building system, inspiring collaboration, innovation and hope in northern Malawi.

In Malawi, a country where it is typical for individuals to seasonally build and maintain their own homes, there is a proverb mutu umodzi susenza denga that states, 'one head alone can not lift a roof. The proverb has it origins in the traditional process by which houses are built. Recalling the collaborative process where cone--shaped roof structures are assembled on the ground by individuals before being ceremonially lifted into place, in some cases by the entire village, it speaks of teamwork, co--operation and community spirit. A spirit that, despite the tidal wave of pressure from corruption, famine and HIV that is currently sweeping across the country, still prevails in Malawi and which was the central inspiration for this story; a positive story of collaboration, innovation and hope, that has taught us a great deal and that we hope will demonstrate how architecture and design can bring delight to a remote community and provide practical solutions to significant problems such as disease, poverty and env ironmental degradation, without costing the earth.

Mzuzu University Health Clinic and Treatment Centre

As a fledgling university in the northern district of Mzuzu seeks to educate a new generation, reversing the brain-drain that is compounding the country's reliance on foreign aid and externally imposed 'solutions', a design was sought that would meet thc university's extensive campus expansion programme. As an alternative to importing expensive and inappropriate prefabricated buildings, an innovative construction process was required that would use locally sourced and sustainably produced materials, and which more significantly would employ and develop the skills of local people training them to build with environmental sustainability as a key consideration.

Malawi is a beautiful country and, despite their limited means, the people are extremely proud of their surroundings. Beyond the urban centres where past colonial influences have adopted inappropriate versions of international Modernism, the more *emote regions have developed distinctive architectural traditions. From simple timber market stalls and vibrant sign-writing and *nurals that adorn shopfronts, to the widespread use of earth bricks, self-built dwellings and shops form an almost seamless settlement along Malawi's roads. Unfortunately, within this vernacular, the recently adopted fired-earth brick process that has replaced the traditional sun-dried technique is accelerating Malawi's most Significant manmade environmental problem deforestation.**

Although the process by which people make bricks from the s** taken from their own sites seems sustainable, the number of trees required to fire the bricks is alarming. Impossible to miss as y** travel, the distinctive brick kilns are as widespread as the house themselves, underlying the threat that as long as people continue to lire bricks by cutting clown trees with no managed replantin** strategy, the consequences of' deforestation--erosion, flooding a famine--will continue to be catastrophic.

These issues pose pertinent questions at this time of glob* environmental consciousness and reparations suggested through development projects. How should practically build in the developing world? Do architects have a role to play ** development projects? And as much as we feel we can teach, wh** can we learn from countries like Malawi?

For a small team the opportunity to address these question arose in May 200 I when Feilden Clegg Bradley reviewed the charity policy to include a donation of' [pounds sterling]5000 towards a spec** development project. With the i intention being that they would also offer design services free of charge, the office began looking for projects to support. However, within this relatively limited budget, what, where, and bow should they build? Through a ** introduction made by Ron Nkomba, a recent recruit to the** London office who as an architect from Malawi identified Project that needed support it soon became clear that a donation** such as that being offered could make a significant contribution towards the construction of a new health clinic and treatment centre for Mzuzu University. Not only would the money cover the entire cost for a first phase of the project, but the process would also give individuals the opportunity to work collaboratively with designers and artisans from another culture to address different climatie and environmental issues. So, following a brief visit to the university to meet academic and medical staff, to fix the brief and collect preliminary site survey information, a core team of FCB staff, supported by engineers Jon Norton and Guy Nevill, began the process by setting themselves several key targets.

While the b rief called specifically for a new health clinic and treatment centre, the broader objective was to design and test a prototype building that would give the university its own modular self-build system. A system that could be fabricated and created by a small team of local artisans without the need for cranes or scalfolding, offering an alternative to the expensive and anonymous imported prefabricated steel sheds from South Africa. Buildings not only environmentally inappropriate, with thin metal skins increasing the university's reliance on expensive bolt-on air-conditioning systems, but which also sit uncomfortably within the campus' beautiful landscape. A new system was clearly needed that was more affordable, directing any expenditure back into the local economy, that would not rely on transporting bulky materials thousands of miles, and which being more sympathetic to the nature of the university's beautifully landscaped campus would make a more positive architectural contribution.

After a year of after-hours design work, the agreed prototype utilized a softwood timber frame, handcrafted from locally and sustainably managed pine plantations, with panels of cement free earth consolidated blocks, stabilized with locally produced lime and laid dry without mortar.

With this, modules could then be used in numerous configurations to create classrooms, hostels or treatment wards, from just two components: a composite column, which included ventilation slots to eliminate complicated opening window details and which neatly doubled as a ladder during assembly; and a modular plywood cassette, that would prop the frame before being lifted into place to form the roof.

With the theory complete, the procurement process began with Teddy Phiri, the university's special projects manager, quickly becoming accustomed to communicating with the design team via e-mail. His job was a complex one, involving co-ordination of the scheduling and ordering of materials, soil tests, and the setting oujt and construction of the foundation slab. All this needed to be completed before our four-week field trip, a critical part of the process to help the assembled team of local craftsmen test and refine the first prototype modules.

Once in Mzuzu, the first two weeks were assigned to block making and testing, using earth taken from a nearby site where the university was digging a pit for a new water tank. After several test mixes, over 3000 blocks were made in just four days with the help of a diesel powered hydraform compression machine, while the university's carpenters and labourers began to fabricate the timber frame under the direction of Buro Happoki engineer Jon Norton.

After a few clays' delay in the manufacture of the steel column bases, caused by difficulties experienced in translating drawings, the final week saw the steel shoes bolted onto the column bases. The first seven columns were then erected in just one day, with the bolts left loose to allow for minor adjustments once the roof cassettes were in place. The cassettes were then propped and pinned to the central row of columns, before being swing into position. In traditional fashion, students from the university came to lend a hand with the lifting--for one head alone cannot lift a roof--and the accuracy with which the carpenters made the frame allowed the team to erect two complete bays, including the cantilevered eaves panels, and metal profile roofing in just four days.

Throughout the process, a number of design refinements were identified; for example, the timber that was available was far superior to that originally engineered, meaning that structural members could have been significantly finer. Also, following the complications in the lubrication process of the steel column bases, plywood shoe detail will be considered for future phases. Beyond this however, the most profound lessons learnt related more to the social aspirations of the project than to the practical or technical aims.

Clearly with this project the notion of charity did not apply. The initiative rests solely with the university as they begin their programme of works to provide to accommodation and facilities that will see the campus community grow from 500 to 5000 students by the year 2020. How they adopt and adapt the system, and how they develop their own expertise, will inevitably gauge the true success of this project. As a collaborative demonstration, this initiative breaks the mould of traditional development projects that often impose foreign ideas on 'helpless' communities. For while foreign donor funding and expertise is desperately needed for development, the initiative, drive and commitment must come from clients, designers, and artisans within these countries.

Photograph by Rob Grogary and ** University

Team Malawi: Tiddy Phiri. Jordan **

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