A--D -- The Women's House of Imloul

GC2022 finalist

Location:
Imloul, Morocco

Category:
work & business

Phase:
under construction

Updated:
5 May 2024

An architectural project promoting women's empowerment, rural development and local traditions.

In 2019, the community of Imloul started to build a women’s house for the association: a place where they could bake and sell bread, manufacture traditional carpets and store locally-sourced honey. However, after building the bearing walls, the work stopped due to lack of money. Together with the community we are joining forces to complete this project

Introduction

The women of Imloul are a very engaged and skillful community, dedicated to the management of the house and the family. They have organised an association with the goals of financial independence and strengthening of their community. Their president, Meryem, returned to Imloul after receiving her education and has committed herself to helping her community in all ways.

In 2019, the community started to build a women’s house for the association where the women could bake and sell bread and other products, manufacture carpets following traditional techniques, and store locally-sourced honey. However, after building the bearing walls with the rammed earth technique, the work stopped due to lack of money.
This is why, together with the local community, we are seeking funding to complete this project.

We met with the association members to discuss which activities to include in the building design and how to optimize the layout using natural locally-sourced sustainable materials.

Given these conversations and goals, we have designed with the women a building which contains a room where children can play while their mothers are working, a communal kitchen with a store front to the street to allow for selling of baked goods, a workshop area with storage for the production of carpets, a communal room for association-related meetings and an office space.

Impact

Over 50 village women will be the direct beneficiaries of this project, as it will provide them space to support their association activities. Their children and families will also benefit from improved income-generating activities (and subsequent impacts of the increased income) of the women.
In addition, local builders and artisans will be provided employment and expand their building skills given our collaboration with Studio 2111, an Italian practice founded by the architect Fabrizio Carola, that focuses on the design of curved surfaces such as domes.
Following a discussion with the community about recurrent droughts and the village's water management, we have expanded the project to include a soil regeneration program to tackle the ongoing desertification. Hence, the larger community of Imloul will benefit from the increased revenue generation, improved environmental conditions and overall increased community well-being.

Core team

At terre à terre asbl we are an international group of down to earth designers, focussing on creating new opportunities for communities through participatory design and promoting the use of natural materials and traditional building techniques with a contemporary approach.
During a collaborative project of the Women’s House of Ouled Merzoug (BBB programme) we had the opportunity to meet the women of the Association féminine du dawar Imloul. They showed us the walls of what should have become a women’s centre, which was never completed due to lack of money. We agreed to look for funds in order to help them achieve their goal.
The director of our partner Perma Atlas - Latifa, who speaks Amazigh, was very helpful in overcoming language barriers and bridging cultural differences. The women explained to us which activities the building should accommodate and, since the project would have been organised in phases, which rooms to prioritise.
Our partner Studio2111, an Italian practice founded by the architect Fabrizio Carola, that focuses on the design of curved surfaces & organic shapes, proposed a structure made of arches and domes in order to speed up the construction and be cost effective, avoiding the use of expensive timber beams.
The local builders, organised in the Association of Naktachef, were keen on working with the domes as it was an opportunity to gain new technical skills.
With the great support of the Municipality of Schaerbeek (Brussels, Belgium), constantly engaged in cooperation, and thanks to friends' donations, we were able to finance over 50% of the budget!

Core Team

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

Image gallery

Women's Activities

image: Auranne Leray | © all rights reserved

Existing Situation

image: Aurora Fanti | © all rights reserved

Existing Situation - Courtyard

image: Aurora Fanti | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Demolitions

image: Martina Petrosino | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Lunch Break

image: Aurora Fanti | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Adobe production

image: Martina Petrosino | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Meeting on site

image: Giulia Ventre | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Meryem on site

image: Giulia Ventre | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Dome Construction - the compass

image: Mohammed Oualla | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Dome construction

image: Martina Petrosino | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Dome construction communal room

image: Martina Petrosino | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Communal Room

image: Martina Petrosino | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Taking over of the Communal Room

image: Auranne Leray | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Workshop space

image: Martina Petrosino | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Meryem preparing earth plaster

image: Martina Petrosino | © all rights reserved

Phase 1 - Roof finish

image: Martina Petrosino | © all rights reserved

Phase 2 - Furniture Setting-out

image: Auranne Leray | © all rights reserved

Phase 2 - Kitchen cabinets

image: Auranne Leray | © all rights reserved

Phase 2 - Sink installation

image: Auranne Leray | © all rights reserved

Phase 2 - Kitchen Internal Finishes

image: Mohammed Oualla | © all rights reserved

Technical drawings

Site Plan

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

Plan - Existing Situation

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

Plan - Proposed

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

3D view - Existing

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

3D view - Current Situation

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

3D view - Complete

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

Internal View - Communal Room

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

Plan and Section - Kids' Room

image: Studio2111 | © all rights reserved

Estimation Quantity Adobe

image: Studio2111 | © all rights reserved

Plan and Details - Kids' Room

image: Studio2111 | © all rights reserved

Kitchen Interiors Plan - Steel Frames

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

Kitchen Interiors Plan - Bricks

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

Technical Detail & Dates

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

Notes from Building Site

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

Sketches from site

image: TAT | © all rights reserved

5 May 2024

Communal room interiors completed!

Displaying smooth plastered walls, emerald floor finish and exposed dome structures, the communal room can finally shine! Built-in stone benches, organised along the walls, provide both comfort and visual continuity with the floor. The women already took over the space, laying out carpets and cushions and organising events for tourists and students.

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4 November 2023

Another € 1,300 raised

Thanks to the Municipality of Schaerbeek (Belgium) we get one step closer to achieving our goal! Every year the municipality provides funding for the associations working within the context of the global south, promoting cooperation between different cultures. We have been awarded with € 1300 which will be used for the interiors of the communal room of the women's centre.

21 September 2023

Summer Updates

Renovation Works
Climate change is affecting rural regions harder each year. In Imloul sudden heavy rains are becoming less isolated events.
The last one left most of the houses of the village with broken roofs and leakages.
The women's house was sturdy enough and didn't let any water in!
However some small maintenance works were necessary, and that's why we went back on site.
After several discussions with the local team and the women, we agreed to slightly modify the current courtyard layout to accommodate a new partition providing the women with an extra level of privacy.

Tapestry Workshop and Site Visits
Even if the building is not complete yet, the women were able to host students coming for a visit and they also organised a tapestry workshop, teaching the participants some traditional techniques.
The communal room is currently used as a multifunctional room: a place for meetings, a workshop for making carpets or simply a dining room when visitors are staying for lunch.
This is a first step to develop a business that can benefit the whole village! Great initiative!

Invitation to "Festa della Terra"
Together with our partner Studio2111, we were invited to Festa della Terra in Casalincontrada (Italy). We had the opportunity to talk about our experience with natural materials in a context like Morocco and also to meet like-minded people.

The earthquake
On 8th September 2023 the central area of Morocco was struck by a powerful earthquake that destroyed entire villages and sadly caused thousands of casualties.
Luckly in the village of Imloul there were no major damages or losses, but just a big fright due to the shocks.

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14 April 2023

Another € 2,500 raised

Big thanks to PNZ for the generous donation: 2500 euro!

Show previous updates

20 March 2023

New supporter: PNZ - Eco wood care and natural wall paints

PNZ is a German company, based in the Altmühl Valley, Bavaria, which specializes in the manufacture of high-grade products (paints, oils, treatments, etc.) for the preservation of wood.

We have the pleasure to announce that PNZ is supporting us for the project of the Women's house of Imloul! Thank you very much!

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Where are we now

During phase 1, completed in April 2022, we managed to:

build 7 dome structures, covering kitchen, communal room and kids' room
install 7 new windows and 2 doors made from reclaimed timber
finish the roof with lime and earth plaster, including build-up of parapets.

We are currently busy on site with phase 2, which involves the construction of built-in furniture for the communal kitchen, including internal finishes of walls and floor. When the women will be able to bake bread and cook for the local rituals and celebrations, the association will start making a profit.

An indication of our team’s capacity:

56% funding already raised

70% expertise already found

90% materials / equipment already found

100% builders already found

Finance: € 15,400

Thanks to the support of our local partners and with the experience gained during the previous phases, we were able to envision a realistic budget for the next ones, including: local construction materials and tools, worker’s salaries and lunch (as per local custom).

With phase 3 we are planning to give the workshop space, the place dedicated to the production of carpets, a roof. We will install an entrance door and several windows, and provide a toilet.

During phase 4 we will focus on interior and exterior finishes (walls and floors), and during phase 5 we will reorganise the outdoors taking into account permaculture principles and sustainable soil management.

construction of 4 dome structures	8,800
construction of toilet	1,000
Interior and exterior finishes	3,000
outdoor spaces	2,000
travel expenses for the team and other experts	600

Skills: Technique, Design, Financial advice, PR & Marketing

Design and Technique:
We are looking for a landscape designer, possibly with experience in semi-arid climates. We need the support of an agronomist who could teach the locals about sustainable soil management/permaculture techniques

PR & Marketing:
We would like to support the women of Imloul in starting their activity, making a business plan, attract customers and display their products in an effective way

Financial Advice:
We need support on finding new ways to fund the project and keep the centre running

Stuff: Equipment & tools

We would like to install a PV panel system in order to run the centre in a sustainalble way, taking advantage of the abundancy of sunshine