'On the east coast of Africa in the tiny, isolated
village of Guludo in Mozambique, a string of tented structures and
low-level buildings inspired by the local vernacular are nearing
completion. They are the first stage of an alternative type of hotel,
or eco-resort, tailored for those ready to pay a lot to get back
to nature.
'An eco-resort promotes a sustainable kind of tourism that seeks
to minimize the negative impact on the local ecology. Locals are
used
for the resort's construction, and then trained to run and manage
the resort once it has been established. It's a far cry from
the energy-guzzling hotels lining the Kenyan coast several hundred
miles north.
'A striking aspect of Cullum & Nightingale Architect's first
new hotel, is that the buildings incorporate materials and technology
that have been used by the indigenous population for many years, but
adapted specifically for hotel use. This has involved embarking on
an experimental journey to test the different materials' strengths
and properties. Lessons learned during this first stage will be applied
in the next, more permanent phase.
'The camp is on an elevated area behind an embankment, metres away from
the shoreline offering views of the sea. It comprises 14 sleeping tents
(nine for tourists, five for staff) which use bamboo and posts made
from coconut tree trunks for the main structure; and five more solid
buildings - a reception, kitchen, diving centre, store room and
office - of wattle and daub and bamboo construction.
'For the solid buildings, the architects moved away from the subdivided
arrangement prevalent in the local housing, designing instead structures
free of internal walls, allowing breezes to flow through. Although
coconut posts are not used locally for structural support - hard-wood
saplings are more common as they are plentiful inland and resistant
to termites - the architects specified them for the ridge and
vertical supports to the roof because they are taller and provide adequate
height and pitch for the roofs' intricate bamboo basket or frame.
'"We may find that they are eaten by termites," says
project manager Rafael Marks. "If this happens, we'll
know not to build the next stage using coconut."
'For the roof finish, the architect took coconut palm fronds, tied them
to a batten and laid them like tiles. It is a traditional method, but
the architect created a different aesthetic and a thicker roof by laying
the fronds more close together.
'On the buildings that required a solid wall structure, another
traditional method was modified. Pieces of bamboo were laid horizontally
and bound
together, with the mesh filled with reclaimed rubble and a lime and
sand mix (although the locals use mud, sand and water). Grass woven
binding was used to tie the bamboo pieces together, and in other places
they used string made from discarded car tyres. "The fibres of
a tyre with no tread are stripped and tied together," explains
principal Richard Nightingale. "You end up with something that
is incredibly strong and sustainable because the locals know how to
repair it."
'The bases for both the solid structures and tents are formed using
woven bamboo to create an upstand and then a layer of reclaimed rubble,
sand and a thin coating of lime cement is laid.
'For the tents, the architect broke from its use of local materials
for the canvas tarpaulin and mosquito net - which creates an
inner space where the bed is positioned - which were made in
South Africa. Otherwise, they used coconut poles for the main structure
and ridge and bamboo, slightly angled, for the sides to keep the canvas
upright. Each of the 50mm-diameter supports consists of four pieces
of bamboo bound together and an aluminium spike inserted through the
top of the bamboo to pierce through the canvas hole. The total cost
of construction and furnishings was £120,000.
'Once the next phase of the eco-resort is complete, there may be
little need for this prototype camp. But an attraction of the methods
used
is their reversibility. The structures could be reused or dismantled
and the materials used for other buildings. Now that's what I
call sustainable development.'
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