SICU PROJECT SUMMARY

SICU Realization Background

SICU (Sustainable Incremental Construction Unit) is the second experimental process-oriented building prototype that is being conducted by BUW and EiABC in the slums of Addis Ababa, with the idea of a modular building strategy that breaks down and simplifies the complex construction process into very easy and understandable steps and procedures, to allow mass production as well as motivate dwellers to build their own house. It will be a show case where the team of students with their tutors will research and explore possibilities of designing and realizing an incremental housing unit in an urban context. SICU is part of The “welcome Africa” project 2012- 2015 at DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) which is an international academic research project between the Ethiopian, South Sudanese and German universities.

Currently, the building industry in Ethiopia’s urban centers is flooded with a complex construction process, which consumes large amounts of time and resources. Imported building materials, generic and international construction techniques and very high building costs are the order of the day in construction sites all over the city, calling for attention methods and strategies that allow inhabitants to make a lot out of a little.

The SICU prototype house is a double- story unit comprising of prefabricated concrete lower structure and lightweight eucalyptus frames for the upper floor. It is a half-ready construction where the homeowners will be able to finish the construction themselves, installing building components, such as enclosure walls, windows, internal partitions, and finishes according to their needs.

The ultimate goal of SICU is to provide an alternative for the construction industry in Ethiopia. By learning from and applying such a method or system (a modular building strategy), it would be possible to self-construct a very affordable housing unit in a very short time. It also makes it possible to activate private resources and create private work force to erect necessary housing units for Ethiopia, which introduces the possibility to ‘’do more with less’’.

SICU Project Data

Function: Prototype Unit (Housing / Office)

Client: Local Administration of a certain neighborhood in Addis Ababa(User of the building is yet to be selected)

Location: Woreda 4, Lideta Subcity, Addis Ababa

Duration: October 2012- September 2013 (Project Period)

Plot Size: 8.75m * 5.5m

Floor Area: 63 m2

SICU Project Team

An international team with delegates from all the three partners:

Project Head - Prof. Dr.Ing. Dirk Donath (Chair of Building Construction)

Project architect - Brook Teklehaimanot (Chair of Architecture and Design I)

Project + Site management - Jakob Mettler

Project assistant - DI Timo Riechert / MA Emanuel Longomiya

Structural engineer - Peter Dissel, (Afro-European-Engineers)

Additional design / public relation - MA Helawi Sewnet

Finance and Procurement - Sarah Abdulhafiz

Design Modeling and Rapid Prototyping - Fahmi Girma

Student assistants - Seyume Weldeyesus / Aknaw Yohannes / Dagmawi Tilahun

Site Works Facilitator - Messay Menweyelet

SICU Project Partners

Bauhaus University Weimar - Prof. Dipl.Ing. Dipl.Des. Bernd Rudolf

Faculty of Architecture - Timo Riechert, Dr. Frauke Anders

icebauhaus weimar - Joern Schultz