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My Favorite Entry in the $300 House Contest

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If you’ve never been homeless, or did not grow up poor in the third world, you’ve probably never given much thought to how to build a house for practically no money at all. But that is just what a competition that just wrapped up asked housing designers to try to do. After all, that is just where the greatest need is for affordable housing.

With roughly two billion people living in adverse poverty, Ingersol Rand are challenging the world to present concepts and designs for a house that can be built for under $300.

The designer of this one, Architect Joseph Sandy says that the basic concept of his design is to “utilize the basic materials that are typically available. The house would be a hybrid of compressed earth block at the base, with a lightweight wood/metal top. The lower course of earth block could be varied in height so that not all of the houses look exactly the same.

On top of the earth block sits a wooden frame with operable wood shutters. This would allow for the houses to utilize cross breezes. The roof is corrugated metal which was chosen for it availability and reliability. The roof is a simple shed roof that allows hot air to follow the slop up and out”.

The earth blocks are made by compressing earth inside a form to create a very tough kind of earth brick, but without using any heat. These would also be used inside to create a stove, a sleeping platform and other shaped furniture.

Each of the small housing units could be fit together in varying ways to form little communities, which create a sense of belonging, while still providing privacy and security for each family.

An important aspect of life – even for the world’s poorest, is making a living. This design is one of the few entrants that considers that fact in devising the design. Here, the exteriors of the little clusters can be used to create small stalls from which to sell wares, under a little shade.

All of the ideas are gathered at the website 300house.com.