A neighbourhood in the centre of Phnom Penh was cleared out with no warning. Its residents were loaded onto trucks and deposited on a piece of land some 15 kilometres from the city centre. Just able to support themselves and their families on an income of one to two dollars, they are now far from their jobs and the necessary facilities the city has to offer.

This project constructs a new neighbourhood for these 100 families. A key proviso in this relevant brief is that this community can support itself in terms of money, potable water and amenities. This means live-work units each with its own toilet, a marketplace and water wells. The design steps off from Cambodian cultural values, available building techniques, aspects of local climate and the neighbourhood's growth so as to be able to accommodate twice as many families in the future. Thus, the structure of the houses takes into account a new storey to be added on top. The cladding panels can be placed by the occupants as they see fit. Materials from their previous houses might be recycled in the new ones. In this project the potentials of bamboo construction are exploited to the full. The well and marketplace are designed as dedicated local elements that incorporate different ways of building with bamboo to boost the image of this construction material.

The neighbourhood is quite independent in its water management, purifying and storing the rainwater and ground water itself. An important precondition is a budget of 950 dollars made available to each family, enabling them to have their own home and make use of the neighbourhood facilities. This modest sum per household means that the project can be paid for and carried out by the residents themselves.

Place of education: TU Delft | Specialization: architecture | Tutors: Arjan van Timmeren, Machiel van Dorst, Guus Westgeest, Jeroen van de Laar