Projects

Current Projects

AUGUST – SEPT. 2022 | West Nile, Uganda

Together with our partners CEFORD and Butterfly Works, we have developed a housing concept for the humanitarian context. This was done through a co-creative process with local stakeholders, communities and refugees. The home design is very affordable and easy to build, and is specifically tailored towards the needs of refugees and host communities.

Co-creation process with local stakeholders
Co-creation process with local stakeholders
Location in Rhino Camp
Render of the final design
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The construction of our first humanitarian home will start at the end of August and is located in the Rhino Camp refugee settlements in north-western Uganda. The funding for this project has been provided by the Dutch government (RVO SBIR) in a tender to Design and Innovate with Locally Available Materials for Economic and Environmental Impact.

Refugee context

Uganda’s progressive open-door policy for refugees has made it the third largest refugee host in the world and the largest in Africa with currently 1.4 million refugees. However, this has put a high pressure on the available resources and services, also limiting the access of host communities to these services. Our homes can make a difference! As Easy Homes are 100% circular, they allow for incremental building and relocation. They could be considered temporary structures, as authorities are often reluctant to allow for permanent housing in resettlements. This way, the concept is well fit for the refugee context, and also as field housing for staff of NGOs.

Our partners in West Nile:

CEFORD

CEFORD is a grassroots NGO based in Uganda, with a significant footprint in the refugee (re)settlements of the West Nile region. They focus on education, vocational skills development and economic development. Their experiences and contacts in the humanitarian sector in Uganda make them a valuable partner in this project.

Butterfly Works

Butterfly Works is a social design studio specialized in co-creation processes, e.g. through the application of the Human Centred Design Approach. They work in many different countries, focusing on international development, and they have been leading the co-creation process during the West Nile project.

Completed Projects

FEBRUARY 2022 | Arua, Uganda

In February 2022, Easy Housing finished its first project in Uganda. In Arua, we built a sustainable and affordable home for a private client to live in with his family. The home of 60 sqm consists of a large veranda, an open living and kitchen area, a spacious bedroom, and a separate bathroom.

As the first project in Uganda, the home is used as a showcase for interested parties. In addition, Easy Housing has established a local concept line to ensure cultural integration, stimulate the local economy, and enable more projects in Uganda in the future.  For more information, download the infographic below!

Front view
Floor plan
Location of the home
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Our partners in Uganda:

Green Resources

Green Resources AS is the largest forest development and wood processing company in East Africa. They manage approx. 38,000 ha of plantation forest in Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. Their sawmill in Jinja will provide the FSC-certified sustainably sourced timber for the Easy Home in Arua.

Green Home

Green Home is an Ugandan start-up that upcycles plastic waste to building materials, replacing concrete in construction materials with plastic waste found in Gulu. For this project, we are testing their product in our foundation to showcase the viability of plastic foundation as an alternative to concrete.

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021 | Beira, Mozambique

Together with our partners Empowa and Casa Real, we have realized our first pilot project in Beira, Mozambique. We have built two sustainable and affordable houses for low- and middle income families. The houses are carbon negative and will include a solar home system and rainwater collection system, to ensure sustainable cycles for materials, energy and water!

The houses are located in Inhamizua (Beira), the same neighbourhood as the Casa Real project Villa Real Condominium. Beira is vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, so the houses are designed to be resistant to such disasters. 

Location of the home
Villa Real Condominium neighbourhood
Impact of cyclone Idai in 2019
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Front view
Floor plan
FSC-certified Messassa timber produced by LevasFlor
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The project entails two semi-detached homes for starters, of around 33 sqm. each, that can be expanded incrementally. They are built entirely out of locally and sustainably sourced FSC Messassa timber produced by Levas Flor, a FSC-certified forestry company. The façade is made of sustainable coconut palm planks delivered by Pedra a Pedra.

This pilot has provided valuable insights on the cultural integration, sustainable sourcing and cost-effectiveness of the Easy Housing concept. This way, we have shown that affordable and sustainable housing is within reach in emerging markets like Mozambique! 

For more information, download the infographic below!

Work on the foundation of the home
Construction work on the home
Construction on the roof
The finished home
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Our partners in Mozambique:

Casa Real

Casa Real is a leading housing development company in Mozambique that aims at providing quality, affordable and sustainable housing in secure neighbourhoods for low and middle income families. They have a lot of experience with building affordable housing in Beira and know the local market well, which makes them a crucial partner for Easy Housing.

Empowa

Empowa is specialized in providing decentralized and innovative housing financing systems using blockchain-technology. Together, we will work on innovative financing instruments, like carbon offsetting and NFTs. Thanks to the network and blockchain expertise of Empowa, we have gotten funding for the pilot project in Beira by the Cardano community.

LevasFlor

LevasFlor is the only FSC-certified company in the Mozambican market with a certificate in Forest Management, and produce all kinds of sustainable timber products. For the project in Beira, LevasFlor delivered the Messassa timber for the homes and also made their carpentry team and workshop available.

Pedra a Pedra Lda

Pedra a Pedra Lda is a sawmill and carpentry workshop in Mozambique, specialized in the processing of coconut palms for furniture and construction timber. They delivered the sustainable coconut palm planks that were used to make the façade of the Easy Homes in Beira.

AUGUST 2020 | Hilversum, the Netherlands

We have built our first project in The Netherlands during the summer of 2020. This demonstration project was realised to show the feasibility of affordable sustainable housing. In addition, we have successfully developed and tested the technical details of our building concept in this project.

The family home of around 65 sqm has two bedrooms, a bathroom and a living/kitchen. The veranda outside provides shelter from sun and rain and creates a nice area to relax, eat, cook, or wash.

Future Projects

Ghana

We are exploring partnerships and projects in Ghana for the second half of 2022. 

 

Other markets?

Reach out to us if you are interested in using our sustainable timber building concept in your region!

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