Twenty teams of construction management and engineering undergraduates were invited to work with UK-based charity Football Gambia.

University of Reading students have spent this summer designing a community building for a remote West African village.

Twenty teams of construction management and engineering undergraduates were invited to work with UK-based charity Football Gambia.

The charity, which promotes education and developing communities in The Gambia through football, challenged them to come up with plans for a building for Chessay, on the north-eastern coast of the country.

Working with residents remotely, the teams competed to provide designs using locally sourced materials for a sustainable primary school housing 150 children, a community centre, nursery and kitchen garden to be constructed next year.

The programme was devised by Dr Tabarak Musa Awad Ballal, director of undergraduate programmes at the university’s School of Construction Management and Engineering.

She said: “Emerging generations of construction professionals will need a widening awareness of the environments in which they work.

“At Reading we pursue a theory with practice approach, both in partnerships and internally between our faculties of expertise.

“This important new programme encourages students to learn new skills and think ‘outside the box’ which will stand them in good stead for their chosen career.”

The 127 students were given just five weeks to think beyond conventional UK construction methods and develop innovative sustainable designs suitable for developing countries.

They also had to consider that there was little infrastructure or running water, no electricity and just 0.5m of space allocation per child compared to 7m in the UK.

Winning team Global Construction Solutions (GLS) was one of six teams achieving over an 80 per cent score with members of the group intending to put their £500 prize money towards a return visit to see the completion of the first phase of building next year.

GLS team member Chester Jones, 34, was particularly proud of the roof design to provide smart air conditioning and the development of a compostable toilet, while team colleague William Mantell-Sayer, 28, felt the project gave him a real practical knowledge of the industry.

Ian Stapleton, business development manager and founder of Football Gambia, added: “This is the first project of its kind in the area.

“Students’ enthusiasm and desire to deliver a range of possibilities in design has been very refreshing.

“As a result Chessay will have new utilities designed to a high standard, using the latest sustainable technologies.
 

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Posted on : 30 Nov,-0001